A Morbid Acuteness of the Senses
by Maahiyum
Summary: Sequel to Morbid Curiosity; Hidan and Sakura are finally sent to infiltrate Akatsuki, but Akatsuki are not the only ones to have secrets. Hidan's got a vendetta to fulfill and Sakura has....? ;P
1. Chapter 1

**Much love to Neonn who helped me beta and write parts of it. You should check her stuff out as well, there's a couple of wild'n'crazy one-shots**.

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_This is the sequel following up 'Morbid Curiosity_'_ so if you don't want to be confused, go read that first and tell me what you think._

**A Morbid Acuteness of the Senses**

**Chapter 1: Just a Whiff**

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_Recap_

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Hidan, get the door!" Sakura yelled from her study, her face half hidden behind a medical text which Hidan hadn't joined in reading, saying something about how he didn't need to know about his body since he could take anything out an examine it himself. Groaning, Hidan pulled his hands out of the sink of dirty dishes and rinsed them of the soap, since Sakura had put him on dish duty for no apparent reason other then to annoy him. As he made his way to the door, he grumbled about how he was a servant of Jashin and should not have to do such measly tasks as washing dishes. Upon opening the door, he found Shikamaru standing there, holding out a scroll.

"What's this?" Hidan took the scroll from him.

"It's a scroll, idiot. Just read it and find out." Shikamaru rolled his eyes. Hidan scowled.

"I know that! Dammit, I'm asking what this is about! We haven't gotten any scrolls before."

"The Hokage is expecting you two later." And with that, Shikamaru poofed away. Hidan looked at the scroll he was left with and made his way to Sakura in her study.

"Hey, Sakura….that one guy that hates me, Shika-something, gave me this just now." Hidan held up the scroll for her to see. Without looking up, she sighed,

"His name is Shikamaru-" Upon looking up and seeing the scroll's specifically colored markings, she immediately put her medical texts down. "Hidan…"

"What?"

"That's a mission scroll."

_Continued_

"A mission scroll?"

There was a loud clatter as the medical texts clattered to the floor in Sakura's hurried scramble to get up.

"Hidan…do you know what this means?" Sakura said slowly. She really couldn't believe it. The Hokage was beginning to take Hidan seriously.

"…that we got a mission?" he said uncertainly as he bent to retrieve one of the fallen books.

"No! Idiot! It means that you did it!" and the next thing he knew, Sakura was latched on to him in a suffocating hug.

"Sa-Sakura, I haven't even started the freakin' mission yet! What's with the hug?!" He gasped out, too uncomfortable to appreciate her gesture of affection.

"She trusts you!" Sakura beamed up at him with pride. To her, this was a landmark achievement. She was the one to come up with the plan. She was the one to dig him up (with Shikamaru's help, of course). And then, she was the one who took care of him, found out about him, and put her trust in this once-upon-a-time enemy. She was so proud of him for proving to everyone else that her trust was well-founded. And now, it seems that Konoha trusted him, too. But when she saw the look of bewilderment on his face, her smile faded. Mentally sighing, she realized that she would have to explain even _this_.

"Eh?" Hidan wasn't sure what she was getting at. He wasn't sure what he had done except be himself. He didn't try exceptionally hard at anything outside of trying to impress her and keeping his pride in tact. The past few weeks since he had gotten his body back were a long, boring blur where it seemed that he was living his genin and chuunin years all over again with all the training he had been forced to do.

Unfortunately, even though he had been living with Sakura for these past few weeks, and it was probably the longest he'd been around any woman in his life, he was still very uncomfortable whenever they got close or she casually touched his arm or shoulder; however, he did manage to control his infernal blush. At least his blood pressure didn't give away his feelings anymore. He very carefully reached up and grasped her arms lightly in an effort to loosen them..

"The Hokage, Tsunade shisou… she trusts you just like she does the rest of the Konoha ninja. I'm really proud of you." She explained as the moment totally lost all of its initial impact. Hidan returned her small smile with a tiny, uncertain one of his own as he finally understood what she was talking about and at the same time, newly realizing some truths about himself.

All of a sudden, there was a lot going on in his mind. Of course, his first priority was to wreak his revenge on Akatsuki, so anything that helped him reach that goal quicker was immediately accepted by him. But, until now, he had never thought about the stakes at hand. It was as if he was playing a card game and every time he took a card from another player, he had to show all of his own cards to the player he took them from. So basically, the other player now knew Hidan's hand as well as Hidan's strategies, so now, the other player held certain expectations. In Hidan's case, this other player was Konoha and they were expecting a card from him in return as well as a certain move. Konoha now wanted his undying loyalty and for the moment, they had it. But they wanted something more, they expected him to become one of their own shinobi and Hidan wasn't sure if he wanted to do that.

"Quick, you have the scroll, let's see what it says." Sakura's voice snapped him out of his reverie as she grabbed the scroll from him and began opening it while moving closer to the lamp. Hidan peered over her shoulder to investigate.

"It's probably something easy. I doubt she'd assign you an A-rank or something for your first mission. I bet it's something simple like…like 'Infiltrating the Akatsuki'?!" Sakura had to reread the scroll two times just to be sure until Hidan suggested they might as well head to see the Hokage now. To him, this was fine. The sooner he got to the Akatsuki, the better.

_Jashin-sama, I'll give all those bastards to you. They deserve to be damned._

--

"Shisou, are you serious?" Sakura stood in the middle of Tsunade's office with Hidan standing next to her. Although, he was eyeing an empty part of the nearby wall as a decent place to listen from.

"Sakura, remember, you're the one who suggested it. You told me he was ready for missions, and frankly, time is running out."

"Yeah, but-"

"We want to stop Akatsuki from reaching their goal. They cannot be allowed to complete their plan or it would mean the end of everything for the rest of us."

"…shisou, I know this. I'm as worried as you are. Naruto is my best friend and they're going to come after him soon…but Hidan…he can't go on an S-rank like this right off the bat!" Sakura didn't know why she was feeling so overprotective of Hidan (she never argued with her teacher) , it's not like it was any of her business. In fact, it was on the same level as Naruto, so much so that she was wringing her hands together. Hidan watched this all a little curiously. Of course, he was flattered that she was so worried about him out of nowhere since she had never shown this much concern for him before… unless there was blood on him, but still….where had all that come from? Wasn't he just 'there' as one of her responsibilities? He hadn't yet said anything to the Hokage since Sakura had been doing all the talking since they'd arrived.

"Sakura…." The Hokage rubbed her temple "his purpose by being with us is, first and foremost, to help us stop the Akatsuki. Besides that, Hidan is a competent shinobi of very high ranking, especially as an ex-criminal and missing nin. He is more than capable of handling himself." Tsunade said as she leaned back into her chair.

"uh…_Lady_...Tsunade, can you tell me what exactly you're asking from me? I mean heheheh, I don't exactly make unconditional deals with anyone but Jashin…" Hidan had to word his speech carefully to avoid giving the Hokage the wrong impression, but without offending her. He refused to call her 'Hokage' because he never accepted her as his leader in particular, but he did respect her as the leader of others.

Tsunade and Sakura both looked at Hidan as if they'd just noticed him standing there for the first time. Sakura forgot about him in her argument with the Hokage, while Tsunade didn't give him any special attention because he simply wasn't _hers_. Although Sakura did not notice how Hidan had replaced 'Hokage' with a simple 'Lady', Tsunade did, and as such, she lifted a brow in his direction before tapping her lip in thought.

"Well…Hidan, all those parts and labor don't come cheap, now that you have your body, you have to keep your end of the bargain by helping us stop Akatsuki. You already agreed to it beforehand, right?"

"Yeah…" Hidan's voice sounded tight because he hated the fact that she was referring to him as if he were some sort of vehicle. And what did she mean by 'parts'? It's not as if they had to piece him together from someone else's body, all of him was already there!

_Just a little longer, Hidan. Two steps forward, one step back. Swallow your pride for now, you'll get it all back later. Jashin-sama will be proud of you._

"Then there shouldn't be any problem for you to go on this mission. It's settled." Tsunade smacked he hand on the table. Sakura looked at Tsunade as if she'd grown a second head.

"But shisou!! You can't send him alone! And on an S-rank! And into Akatsuki! What if something happens? What if he needs backup? He'll be in trouble! Then we'll be in trouble! And everything will go wrong! Akatsuki will have their guards up again! We'll never have this chance again. If something happens to him while he's alone, no one will know!"

Tsunade's face darkened just a little as she realized that Sakura, smart as she was, was still too naïve and trusting. She probably couldn't even fathom the possibility of Hidan betraying Konoha. She was obviously too attached and worried over his well-being.

Tsunade sighed softly because…well…Tsunade couldn't blame the girl. After being around the same person constantly for so long, there's bound to be some sort of attachment. Just take her and Jiraiya. They absolutely hate each other, their personalities are different, and yet, they still worry about one another. The most likely reason would be because they all grew up together.

"Oh there'll definitely be some trouble Sakura…I'm expecting it, that's why you're going to go with him."

"What?!" Sakura instantly deflated. Hidan watched, mildly amused. His pride was basically on a teeter-totter. Swelling up whenever she tried to protect him, because it just felt _good_ to know that somebody worried about him; thinking about him…and then crashing back down because she thought he couldn't take care of himself.

_Jashin! Does she really think I'm that freakin' helpless? She's seen me train. Except for minor scratches, I never get hurt. Seriously…just because I can't cook or wake up on time, it's like I'm a baby -sigh-_

"Yes, so both of you go pack up. Hidan, we have some of your things, Shikamaru is waiting outside, he'll take you to them. And Sakura, I still need a word with you."

Hidan glanced at Sakura and caught her eye for a second. Her expression told him that she was just as bewildered as he was. And then he looked at Tsunade. She didn't look threatening, but he had learned not judge her by her youthful looks. He paused in the doorway. He had a bad feeling about this, but he left the two alone anyway and headed down to get his things with Shikamaru.

"Sakura, you're too attached to him. I don't trust him. I don't know if he'll betray us as soon as he leaves, or if he will even do the mission. He is a very powerful shinobi and I would like for his loyalties to lie with us, but he's not being very convincing." Tsunade watched Sakura very carefully for a reaction, but whatever was going through her mind, never showed on her face. Sakura on the other hand froze. She completely put her guard up again, as soon as Tsunade accused her of being too attached.

"What do you mean, Tsunade Shisou?" She asked carefully.

"…I'm not sending you because you think he needs to be taken care of, I'm sending you because you're going to make sure he doesn't do anything against Konoha."

"…but… I thought… you finally trusted him…" Sakura unconsciously fiddled with the hem of her shirt.

"I trust him…for now, but remember, ninjas don't trust anyone." There was a slight ominous pause after this statement before Tsunade continued.

"Has he said anything to you about what he plans to do?"

"He says he plans to kill every remaining member of Akatsuki." Sakura quickly replied.

"Yes, so we all know. But tell me, has he said anything about what he will do if and when, he succeeds?"

Sakura looked down at her hands and tried to remember all of the conversations she had had with Hidan about this topic. There weren't very many. He seemed to be set on only one thing and since he was such a straightforward person, she didn't think any of his words had a double meaning. But what Tsunade said was true. Hidan had not mentioned, even once, what would happen if he actually wreaked his vengeance on Akatsuki. If he actually _did_ manage to kill the Akatsuki.

"Actually, Tsunade-sama, I don't think he has even thought about it yet." She gave Tsunade an apologetic look. Sakura knew that Hidan and Naruto were very similar in personality, so knowing Naruto for so long, she figured that if Hidan had not said a word about anything, it was most likely because he had never thought about it in the first place.

Upon hearing that, Tsunade developed a small twitch on her face.

"…I see…very well. Please make sure to tell Hidan that this is a reconnaissance mission for now. There is no need to kill anyone yet. You must infiltrate Akatsuki, and gain information on them and their latest plans. Report back once you feel you have enough. Go now, get ready. Shizune!" Sakura walked towards the door but Shizune raced in at the same time.

"Hai! Hokage-sama!"

"Get me my sake!...oh, and Sakura…" Sakura paused in the doorway.

"Hm?"

"Once you leave Konoha, trust no one." Frowning, Sakura gave a subtle nod and walked out, leaving the sound of Shizune's protests and Tsunade's demands behind.

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**I'm sorry this was so short, but it was more dramatic if I ended it here. The next chapter will be longer.**

**Please leave me a review. Do you like the new tone? It's more serious now, but there will be a focus on romance more.**

Once again

**Please Review! They make me very happy and make me want to write more :D**

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	2. Chapter 2

**Helloo :) sorry about the huge delay, I've just had a lot of issues to deal with at home lately. Hopefully, they'll settle down soon.**

**Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. I made it longer then usual to make up for my absence. Also, as a warning, Hidan isn't Hidan without some swearing or anger management problems, so there is some cursing in the chapter.**

I don't own anything but the plot, TYVM.

**P.S. Many thanks to Neonn and Mokana-Chan for helping beta and brainstorm. I have the entire story line mapped out! I think you all will enjoy it very much -muhahaha-**

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She knew the Hokage only wanted the best for her and for Konoha, but it was still very hard for Sakura to accept

Sakura left the office quickly to go home and prepare. She figured that Hidan could find his way back himself so she didn't bother going after him. Besides, she wanted some time alone to think about what the Hokage told her. She knew the Hokage only wanted the best for her and for Konoha, but it was still very hard for Sakura to accept. She began trusting Hidan because he proved to her that he could be trusted, so the only way she would stop trusting him would be if he'd do something to break her trust. Sakura was a very logical person so it was the most logical way of thinking about a situation like this.

--

"You know, I should probably be going on this mission too, but the Hokage prefers that I keep house." Shikamaru sighed as he led Hidan down the hall to the supply room. He would never admit it to the Hokage, but he had very little, if any, faith in Hidan and he preferred very much to be the one to go on this mission with Hidan instead of Sakura. It wasn't because he doubted her abilities, it was because he doubted Hidan to follow through on his word once outside the gates of Konoha. But that wasn't the only reason. Shikamaru had a feeling that once he finds out about the mission, Naruto would try to follow Sakura straight into the lion's den where the Akatsuki were waiting for him and him alone. He would never let her face Akatsuki by herself, even if Hidan was there. They always say that Naruto is the most unpredictable ninja in Konoha, but really, he's probably the most predictable one in the entire history of the village.

"Like hell you should. Isn't it enough that they're making Sakura come? I know the Hokage's probably back there bitching at the poor girl into not trusting me." Hidan grumbled along. Shikamaru turned an eyebrow at the pale haired man for his rather intuitive comment but Hidan ignored it. At first glance, Hidan might seem very abrasive and stupid to some people, but as a messenger of Jashin, he was surprisingly very perceptive of individuals and their feelings. Through his long, immortal years of experience, he had gained an understanding of human nature that many philosophers only come to when they're on their death beds. It was also through this that he was able to pinpoint the Hokage's feelings towards him and foresee her intentions.

"Does she have a reason to not trust you?" Shikamaru asked nonchalantly as they reached the supply room.

"….that depends. You're one of those genius types, aren't you? So you know what I mean." Hidan replied after a moment before stepping into the supply room after the other shinobi.

"Maybe I do. But that depends so answer my question and keep in mind that even though she doesn't sound like it, the Hokage is putting a lot of faith into you and your abilities as well as Sakura's judgment. That's why you're being allowed to do this and that's why we're giving you your old stuff back. We figured you won't use it against us and it'll help you complete the mission." Shikamaru waved a hand at a cluttered table while Hidan furrowed his brown and tried to take in what he was seeing. There were small piles here and there, and among them, Hidan saw the flash of a red cloud as well as the ever-familiar insignia of Jashin.

"You know more than what you say, you shithead. Don't 'that depends' me. I'm talking about what I do and what I'm going to do. There's different ways of looking at everything that's going to happen." Hidan picked up the patched up remains of his old Akatsuki cloak and frowned at it. Shikamaru extracted a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and stuck one in his mouth without bothering to light it.

"I suppose that's true. The Hokage sees things differently then everyone else because she's our leader. She has a lot of responsibility."

"Yeah, but I don't care what that old hag thinks. She's asking me for too much. I'm a man of god, dammit. I live a simple life. I don't own anything but myself, the clothes on my back, and the thoughts in my head." Hidan lifted his old rosary from the table and looked at the pendant of Jashin solemnly for a moment before putting it on and continuing. "If someone does me a favor, I return it as soon as I can. Sakura and the Hokage of this place did me a favor. So yeah, I owe you bastards for putting me together. That's why I'm going along with this 'mission'." Hidan held up his fingers in quotation marks to emphasize 'mission'.

"Sure you're saying that but through this mission, you get to fulfill your own vendetta, don't you? Your scythe is over there." Shikamaru nodded towards the back wall where Hidan's triple-bladed scythe stood. Hidan shrugged as he walked over to the wall and ran his hand along the shaft before grabbing it in both hands and giving it a test swing.

"It just so happens that I'm fuckin' pissed at those Akatsuki bastards so I want to kill them all. You guys want that, too, so I'm doing what I want to do as the favor I owe you. It's like hitting two birds with one stone. Seriously, it's that simple." Hidan tested the top blade of his scythe and nicked his finger, bringing it closer to his face, he inspected the cut as a shiny globule of deep red began forming on the tip of his finger.

"What did you guys do to this? It's not nearly as sharp as it's supposed to be."

"I guess you'll just have to sharpen it later." Shikamaru frowned at the rather gruesome instrument in distaste.

"Is this it? Where's my hitae-ate?" Hidan looked around at his few belongings as he laid his scythe on the table next to his cloak.

"Right here." Shikamaru grabbed a box from a nearby shelf and held it up to Hidan. "The idiots that dug your stuff up thought it was an antique and gave it to one of the guys at the historical artifacts department."

"Hah. They thought this was an antique? They should just go and dig up Kakuzu. Now that's a REAL antique. That bastard was probably older then everyone else in Akatsuki combined. He'd probably sell himself after his own appraisal." Hidan smirked as he opened the box and took his headband out before noticing a second head band lying next to it and picking it up with distaste.

"What the hell is this?"

"That's a Konoha headband. The Hokage wanted you to have one."

"Well keep it. I don't need another one." Hidan tossed the Konoha headband onto the table and grabbed the rest of his stuff. Shikamaru heaved a sigh before walking out of the supply room. The Hokage would probably talk his ear off about this after seeing Sakura and Hidan off on the mission. It was so obvious that Hidan wasn't going to let anyone know he's with Konoha.

--

There was the sound of someone shuffling around outside the front door, then a bump and a series of curses.

Sakura sighed to herself and was just about to open the door for Hidan but he managed to open it himself and slide in to stand before her.He was still in the middle of his spiel about how the people on the street were staring at him and how a couple shinobi had even stopped to question him on his way home before he noticed that Sakura had taken a step back and was staring at him just the as well.

"What?! Not you, too! Jashin dammit! What the hell is-" Hidan began spouting again but Sakura cut him off hastily and tried to explain herself.

"Hidan! There's nothing wrong! It's just…It's just that I've never seen you in your original gear before." She gave him a forced smile as she stepped back once more to survey his get-up. There were really only one or two minor differences.He was still wearing the plain cloak from that morning, but this time, he had a rather old and unique looking hitae-ate around his neck, some strange pendant resting on the middle of his chest, and of course, the giant triple-bladed scythe on his back.

Hidan took a short breath before continuing a little more calmly (but not by much),

"What the hell do you mean, 'original gear'? I'm not even wearing that damned Akatsuki cloak."

"…uh…heheh…well, I've never seen you with your scythe before…that's all…"

"That's because your precious Hokage didn't want to give me any real weapons until I used them for her." His tone carried the slightest edge of bitterness before he sighed and ran a hand over his head to smooth back his hair. He'd been doing that a lot lately, Sakura noticed. It had been a week into training when he managed to start doing it regularly whenever he was stressed out. He did it so often now, that his hair never moved out of his slicked back style….which explained a lot of things, but didn't. One day, Sakura had asked Hidan why he cursed so much and he simply told her that it helped relief his stress. Being immortal and all had a lot of pressure from Jashin, he'd said. But lately, he had been cursing a lot and slicking his hair back more frequently, so it could be assumed that he was under enough stress that simply cursing wasn't enough to relieve it; he'd taken to cursing and slicking his hair back at the same time. That was quite a combination, but now the real question was: What in the world was causing Hidan so much stress?

"So, are you ready yet? Your Hokage wants us to go soon." Hidan's voice abruptly brought Sakura back out of her thoughts and she realized that she had somehow dazed off right where she was standing. Sakura felt herself flush slightly at being caught, but Hidan didn't seem to notice since he'd taken to leaning back against the wall with his eyes closed as he rubbed his neck.

"Yeah, I just have to grab my pack, what about you?"

"I don't need to pack anything."

"What about food?" Hidan let out a badly suppressed groan.

"…Right…. you go pack some rations….we don't have a plan yet, so we don't know how long our food will have to last."

"…fine." Hidan let his scythe rest next to the door before heading towards the kitchen, as he brushed past Sakura, he grabbed hold of her arm and held her in place, she looked up at him confused to only see that he was looking down, refusing to make eye contact with her.

"Hidan, what ar-"

"Are you sure you want to go?" Hidan's voice was low and controlled as he cut her off.

"Yes, but wh-"

"Because, Jashin knows, it doesn't matter if I get caught. They can't kill me." Hidan held on silently for a moment before letting his hand fall away from her and continuing into the kitchen. Sakura's eyes widened just a fraction as she realized that Hidan didn't want her to accompany him. Sakura looked his way incredulously but he seemed to be looking away. But just what was going on with him? What was he thinking? Did he really think that she couldn't handle this mission? Is that why he didn't want her to go? Feeling her pride being jabbed at, she somewhat angrily began to make her way upstairs to grab her things, but not before telling Hidan over her shoulder,

"I'm a kunoichi, Hidan. A shinobi just like you."

"I know, Jashin damn it…….and that's the problem." Sakura didn't hear Hidan mutter the last part under his breath, and it never did occur to her that he might actually be concerned for her.

--

Soon afterward, Hidan and Sakura bid farewell to the Hokage and Shikamaru at the gates of Konoha. Sakura had dearly wished to see Naruto once more before leaving on such a mission, but he and Kakashi were both out on a special mission.

Hidan had sat on a rock nearby and watched Sakura give Tsunade a hug before giving her a salute and walking over to Hidan. Tsunade followed behind her to give Hidan a couple more threats hidden among the usual pre-mission pep talk. Hidan smirked at her and simply stretched back his arms and neck in such a way that the hitae-ate at his neck was exposed enough to glint in the waning afternoon sunlight. Seeing its three, slanting lines, Tsunade's face hardened but it was already too late for her to object because in just a few seconds, Hidan and Sakura had already disappeared beyond the gate.

--

"Hidan, why did you just grab me and leave?!" Sakura yelled indignantly as she continued tree-hopping beside him.

"Because I don't know where the latest fucking base is and the sun will go down soon." Hidan sped on casually. This time, he was wearing another plain cloak but he had it closed properly so that his giant scythe could be strapped to his back.

"SO?! Would staying for a few more minutes have made that big of a difference?"

"…not really. But saying all those goodbyes right before a mission really gets annoying. Do you Konoha shinobi do that all the freakin' time?"

"No! But this was a special mission. A Konoha shinobi working with a shinobi from outside Konoha is a big deal by itself, but the fact that we're going after Akatsuki, and the fact that you used to be one of them….it's just huge. Hidan, don't you get it? A mission like this has never happened before in the history of Konoha."

"Sakura, a mission is a mission. Don't make such a big deal out of it. Seriously."

Sakura just made a flustered noise and continued hopping beside him. There really was nothing more to say since he was right. The mission itself wasn't a big deal (since it was just like any other alliance mission), she was the one making it so, and she didn't even understand why. It probably had something to do with how Tsunade was handling it, though. Tsunade was basically asking Sakura to not trust her partner. How could she be expected to do that and still get this mission done? Right now, it felt like she was doing two missions and one of them was already starting to fail, it seemed. She hadn't been keeping an eye on Hidan at all. Dammit! She was supposed to listen to everything he said carefully so that she'd be able to find any double meanings or loopholes. A shinobi had to always stay on edge and be able to look underneath the underneath.

But…it was hard for her to stay on guard around him. Simply put, her mind just didn't accept him as an enemy so she didn't treat him as one. She couldn't even if she tried.

Ok, obviously he wasn't her enemy, so then who exactly was he?

A patient? A houseguest? A charge? Just another responsibility?

He'd been each of those at some point ever since she'd made the decision to dig him up, but he wasn't any of those anymore. He had his own body, he was healthy, he was a grown man, and he was independent. Free to make his own decisions as he wills. He didn't need her anymore, nor did she need him, and yet, there was just something between them that she just couldn't put her finger on.

Normally, she'd like to call it 'friendship' but her mind just couldn't get around the concept because to her, what her and Ino had was friendship; what her and Naruto had was friendship; and her fellow rookie nine fell into the same category as well.

But where did this person who she was racing along with, fall? They had had their laughs and their arguments. He had made fun of her on numerous occasions and she had throttled him an equal number of times. They trusted each other, but even though they had spent so much time together, there was still much that neither knew about the other. In fact, the only things she knew about him were all related to Akatsuki or maybe a tidbit on his faith.

She looked at his profile beside her. He seemed to be deep in thought. She could tell by the way his jaw was set. Even though the scenery was quickly passing behind them, her eyes slowly followed his features, starting from his relaxed brow and his simple, but exotically colored eye, moving down to his aquiline nose and dipping under to reach his top lip….then the bottom lip, she realized then, that with the slightest twitch, those lips could easily turn into the smirk she was so familiar with. Then below that was the jut of his chin that reeled back into a clean jaw line to meet the neck. She could clearly see the slight curve of his adam's apple. Her fingers had passed over it on many occasions when she had to carry him around with her.

A sudden thought occurred to her and she finally decided to really look at their surroundings. They were still in the familiar leafy forests of Fire country. They had been moving quickly but she had no idea in which direction. Hidan had just picked her up and flew out of Konoha and in her flustered disposition, she had just followed him without a second thought.

But hadn't he told her that he had no idea where the current Akatsuki base was?

So where were they going now?

"Hey Hidan"

"Yeah?" He slowed down as he looked over at her.

"If you have no idea where the base is, where are we going?"

Hidan very nearly tripped over the next branch but managed to brace himself against a tree trunk. He shot Sakura a somewhat guilty look along with a short, nervous laugh since he hadn't bothered to explain anything to her. He was hoping that she had forgotten all about it since he'd taken her away from Konoha in such an unorthodox way but it seems that that just wouldn't happen.

Sakura landed on his branch and looked at him expectantly.

"Well?"

"'Well' what?" He said it as if there wasn't anything wrong and that only seemed to aggravate Sakura more. He knew what would happen next. She'd put her hands on her hips.

And so she did.

Hidan smirked at her lazily as he sat down on the branch.

"You should sit down too, take a break. We'll get going in a few minutes."

"Hidan, WHERE are we going?!" Sakura asked, her voice rising this time as she tried to control it.

"Can't you wait a little? You'll find out when we get there. Seriously." Hidan fully knew he was just egging her on, but Sakura had been very quiet and subdued lately, most likely because of what had transpired between her and the Hokage… so what better way was there to get so much enthusiasm out of the girl?

And there it was. He saw the way her right eyebrow twitched and the way her mouth tightened into a thin line.

"This isn't some stupid walk around the village, Hidan! This is a mission! OUR MISSION! SO WHERE THE HELL ARE WE GOING?!"

Hidan closed his eyes in response and brought a hand up to his rosary. While playing with the pendant between his fingers, he opened his eyes half-way to see the rather visibly furious and distraught Sakura. Letting out a small sigh, he decided that she'd been 'enthusiastic' enough. Especially considering that she was quickly moving into physical enthusiasm, what with her hands tightening into fists and all.

"Sakura, calm down. I said that I don't know where the latest base is, so we're going to go and find out."

Sakura immediately stopped clenching her fists, but stepped closer to Hidan in order to focus on the problem at hand.

"Ok…so how do you propose we do that?"

"I was thinking…that we go to those bastards' usual haunts. Like Rain."

"Is that where we're going right now?"

"Yup."

"And then what?"

"…I'm not sure….I haven't gotten that far yet. You know…people like me are never good leaders, we never plan ahead."

"And why don't you ever plan ahead?", with a sigh, Sakura sat down heavily and let her legs hang over the branch. There was no telling how this mission would go. Especially when dealing with Akatsuki. It was rumored that their leader, Pein, had been planning for the organization since his childhood.

"Hey, don't make it sound like it's all my fault! It's not just me. It's all other followers of Jashin. If we decided to plan ahead, we'd be stuck planning forever."

"Oh." There wasn't any more explanation required. Sakura already knew that Hidan was talking about his immortality. She'd never be able to really understand it, she knew that already, but this was the first time she realized that some things about Hidan and his immortality were just completely unfathomable to her. Seriously, how could someone do something, make any big decision without planning ahead, even just a little? You'd have to at least think about the consequences, just in case something bad happened to you, you know, like dying. But then that brought back the fact that Hidan couldn't die. She supposed that's why he was the way he was. Totally reckless and simple-minded. Not stupid, just simple. He didn't have any great goals to achieve. He just did what Jashin told him to and whenever the chance came to do what Jashin said, he'd do it, other wise his life was like a balance. Whenever his life went off balance, he'd fix it and then go on his merry way until it happened again. Like running back and forth on a see-saw.

She swung her legs around a few times as she got lost in thought.

He was so different from her. She had all these responsibilities and so many people depended on her. She had so many bonds. Whenever she made a decision, she kept in mind all those that would be affected by it. Her life wasn't a linear balance or a see-saw. There were so many other planes to it. She was like the spider in the middle of an enormous web. She had to be careful of which silk thread she pulled or she'd pull the others along with it because they were all connected.

Lifting her head, she looked at the surrounding foliage to take in her bearings. They had been traveling for about 2 hours now, if they traveled non-stop through the night, they would reach the border of Fire country at midnight. She frowned. That would be troublesome. Having to deal with border guards and officials at midnight. They'd probably be mistaken for criminals or something and be attacked before they even got the chance to pull out Tsunade's handy paperwork.

"Hidan, we're traveling towards Rain, right? I think there's a problem. We won't be able to make it past the border because we'll be getting there so late at night. It'd be best if we stopped for the night at a village nearby."

Hidan frowned. He didn't like the idea of staying in a village. He wanted to get to Rain as quickly as possible. It was supposedly the safest country for criminals, and he was sure that he'd blend in better there then in Fire.

"Is it going to be another one of your sissy shinobi villages?"

Sakura grimaced.

"No, it's just a normal village. But there still might be other shinobi traveling through it. What's wrong with that?"

"…nothing. It's just that every time one of those shinobi see me, they freak out and start coming at me. It's so fucking annoying. Jashin will damn them all for persecuting his loyal servant." Sakura very nearly rolled her eyes.

"Just keep a low profile. Hide your scythe."

"And what? Keep it in my pocket?" Hidan scoffed at her as he picked at his pendant, bringing it to his face to examine it.

"Fine! This is getting us nowhere. We'll worry about it when we get there. Come on, let's go." Sakura got up with a scowl and brushed off her legs before jumping to next branch.

"Hidan!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming. Jashin isn't chasing us, woman. Take it easy." Hidan looked at his rosary one last time before letting it drop back against his bare chest as he stood up and took off after Sakura.

"Hey, do you think anybody at that village will be interested in serving Jashin?"

* * *

**okay**

**now for my usual end-of-chapter chant: REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW plz :D**

**How do you like the story so far? Excited for more?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello, Hello, Hello dear readers**

**If any of you thought that I would abandon this story, then get real. This is the longest chapter I've ever written for any of my stories and it'd do very well for you to appreciate it. I took my time for a REASON.**

**A Million Kudos to Mokana-chan for helping me deliberate a lot of the ideas in this**, **I wouldn't have gotten past a severe writer's block without her, and then much, much love to Neonn, my faithful Beta.**

I dun own nuthin' in this here story.

* * *

**A Morbid Acuteness of the Senses **

**Chapter 3**

_Makes it harder for each breath I take, each move I make_

"There it is," Sakura said jumping off her branch and landing at the base of a tree where lights shimmered at the end of the road. "That's the village we're staying the night at."

Hidan jumped down next to her and adjusted the scythe on his back.

"You're kidding, right? I can count all of the houses on one hand."

Sakura grimaced at his remark as she stepped onto the dirt road that lead to the village.

"It's not that small…" Sakura replied as she stared at the handful of buildings now noticing that not one of them seemed to have a second floor. "I'm sure we'll find an inn."

"Come on Sakura, even Jashin wouldn't find a worthy sacrifice among the people of this pitiful village."

Sakura's jaw dropped at that. Hidan gave a low chuckle upon seeing her expression.

"Well, that's a good thing! We're not supposed to sacrifice anyone!" Hidan smirked in amusement but let that particular subject drop. The only thing keeping him sane throughout this journey was Sakura. Or at least bugging her was. She was the only thing that did change since the scenery around them didn't. And really, it wasn't just the scenery, it was the just the repetitive movements as well. Jump from one branch to the next. Dodge a branch or two. Hear the leaves whistle past. Rinse, swish, spit. Repeat. Now that he was out of that boring Village of Konoha, Hidan wanted some real action and he highly doubted that he'd find it in the tiny village they were headed to.

"Rain Country is only an hour away. Seriously. Let's just go there."

"No." Sakura wondered how many more times the man would ask the same question again. She supposed that being the religious zealot that he was, he would stick firmly to his beliefs and his alone.

**Persistent, self-centered prick.**

Honestly, why didn't he just understand that going there was totally out of the question? If they went now, they'd just get killed. Sakura grimaced.

**Oh yeah, of course he has nothing to worry about.**

_But can't he at least be worried about _me_?_

**Honestly, after all you did for him…**

Hidan simply sighed, rolled his eyes, and continued following Sakura towards the village. After having to live with her for so long, he knew that once she made up her mind about something, there really was no changing it. Though really, he supposed he should thank her for her stubbornness since that was most likely the reason he was standing there in one piece in the first place.

Once they reached the end of the road, there was single lamppost standing next to a weather beaten wooden sign stating the village's name and population. The population, as it turned out, was actually just over three hundred. Hidan scowled and looked around at the sparse array of buildings on either side of what he presumed was the main street.

He had a bad feeling about this. Not that the village itself was bad, it just seemed to be bad for him. It'd be hard for someone like him to be accepted there (with his giant scythe and all).

He might be old, but he was up-to-date with everything new, and this village looked anything but new. The village seemed so outdated that there was the chance that he would be kicked out of it just because of that. It was too quiet for his liking and he knew that he and Sakura stuck out like sore thumbs. Throughout his travels, he preferred to stick around places with lots of people so that he could blend in with all the hustle and bustle.

Sakura looked down the street as well. She could tell that people still lived here since the street seemed to be swept and everything looked clean and well maintained but it just looked so empty and bare. There was none of the homeliness that she was accustomed to seeing; there was no….how should she describe it? There was no color, no culture, no welcoming, cheery atmosphere. She took in a small breath and let out a short laugh.

"Hehehe…I'm sure they have an inn somewhere around here. Don't worry. All we have to do is tell them that we're from Konoha and they'll welcome us…" Hidan gave her a look that said, yah like that will happen when hell freezes over. "Because, I mean, we ARE this country's protectors, right? So no problem."

She led them to what seemed to be the town square and looked around at the buildings. One seemed to be a general store, another seemed to be a police station, while a third was obviously the town hall (because it had another sign with the village's name and grand total of people as well as their leader's name on there.), and not one of them was open.

In fact, out of the already tiny number of buildings, even less than half of them still had their lights on; their soft glows signifying that its inhabitants were still awake. One would think there would be more people awake, up, and about since there was still an hour or so before midnight.

Hidan heaved a sigh and waved an arm around the town square.

"Look! Jashin knows I was telling the truth when I said that this was a bad idea. There isn't even an inn around this place. Even Jashin-sama has forsaken it!"

Sakura was nearing her limit with Hidan's whining. If she said anything more, it'd be a waste of breath, so she just pursed her lips and grabbed Hidan's arm, dragging him to the first lit house she saw. Hidan began to protest but Sakura had not only reached the door, she had already knocked on it. Twice.

When Hidan was finally about to say something, but Sakura elbowed him, and it was just in time too, since the door handle began to jiggle as a hundred different types of locks on the other side of the door began to undo themselves. There was a moment of silence as Hidan and Sakura listened, fascinated as the last set of tumblers were released.

Hidan's eyes widened as he quickly straightened up and stood next to Sakura properly, giving his best effort to look 'nice', given he had a giant scythe strapped to his back. Sakura's face stretched into a smile as well to give a similar effect as the door cracked open and a lone, weary eye peeked at them.

"Yes? May I help you?" said the man behind the door, his voice clipped, prim, and a little raspy. Like an old butler. First up at Hidan, and then down at Sakura, he looked at them critically before resting his eyes on Sakura's Konoha headband and opening the door all the way to reveal himself. Sakura cleared her throat as she began,

"Oh, hello, we're sorry to bother you at this hour, but we are shinobi from Konoha and we need a place to rest for the night-" Hidan rolled his eyes at her pathetic attempt and cut her off.

"(Oh Jashin-sama help me)….Good sir! Will you offer beds to two weary travelers? We have means of compensating you if you ask it of us." Sakura had to consciously keep her mouth from hanging open at Hidan's rather archaic choice of words. She looked at the other man's face. It hadn't changed at all from the stern, critical eye, but miraculously, what Hidan had said seemed to do the trick because the man stared at them a moment longer before shutting the door with a

"Let me speak to my wife and we'll see."

A few moments later, he returned with a woman behind him. She looked much more cheerful then her husband with her wide face, pudgy cheeks, laughing eyes, and brown-and-grey streaked hair pulled into a low bun. She held a very lively countenance that made up for her husband's lack there of.

Because of her overwhelming presence and their weary state, Hidan and Sakura unconsciously moved closer to one another. Hidan even rested a hand on Sakura's shoulder protectively. Sakura pretended not to notice and feigned a bright smile. The woman immediately smiled back kindly, patting her apron down.

"So let's see, who do we have here, dear?"

"Well, these two Konoha shinobi want to rent a room for the night."

"Oh, that's wonderful!" The woman clapped her hands together. "We rarely get any visitors in our humble little village."

"Yes, very humble." Hidan added under his breath, without thinking. The woman's smile just got wider but Sakura immediately shot up her hand to rest on Hidan's, grabbing it painfully and bringing it down between them. To the woman and anyone else who couldn't detect chakra, it looked like the two people were simply holding hands.

"Yes! Haha, we couldn't find an inn but being so weary from travel we needed to find a place to rest." Sakura smoothed over Hidan's bumble and both shinobi had forced smiles on their faces although… Hidan's expression was more for Sakura, proving that he could handle the squeeze on his hand.

"Oh, yes! Please come in! Come in! It's chilly out at this time of year. Would you like anything to eat or drink?" The woman moved out of the doorway and hustled them inside, her husband moving behind them. The stiff way that Hidan and Sakura walked in with went unnoticed by the woman. She believed that they were just nervous, when in reality, they were very, very uncomfortable being pulled in like that, and the fact that they still held hands was making it hard for them to walk in together.

"Oh…no thank you, just beds would be fine. We don't want to be a burden." Sakura stepped into the living room with Hidan, not letting go of his hand in case he said something unnecessary again.

"Alright then, we have an extra room down this way…what did you say your name was again?"

Sakura nearly rolled her eyes at the woman; of course they had never mentioned their names yet, but why did the woman have to be so…so sneaky and cheerful at the same time when asking them? It would have been fine if she'd just asked straight out.

"Umm….we didn't, actually. My name is Sakura and this is Hidan."

Hidan began shift around uncomfortably as Sakura squeezed his hand again, warning him to let her do all the talking.

"And you're both shinobi from Konoha?" The woman's eyes danced from one shinobi to the other.

"Yes." Hidan said quickly in a tight voice before Sakura could.

"And you need a place to rest?" The woman seemed a bit slow to understand these simple facts even though they had been mentioned several times already.

"Yes." Sakura said this time, casting Hidan a sharp glance.

"Well, okay then, follow me." The woman smiled and began leading them through the tiny house's short halls. Sakura had to let go of Hidan's hand so that he could maneuver on his own through the claustrophobic space. He had to be extra careful not to make anything fall over with his scythe. Once they arrived in front of a door, the lady pulled out a ring of keys from a pocket somewhere on her dress and began searching through them one by one for the correctly shaped piece of brass.

Sakura cleared her throat, thinking it would be wise to fill in the silence and to lighten up the atmosphere. She also figured it'd be best to give the woman money for her hospitality since the village looked like it needed it.

"Uh, thank you very much for letting us stay the night. If it's too much of a burden, we can pay you."

"What?! Oh, no, honey! For a lovely married couple like you two, it's free of charge! I love helping young couples along! It's not often we get to see ones as sweet as yourselves!"

Sakura's face froze but she was sure that there was a prominent twitch under eye. Hidan's jaw hung open as he openly gawked at the woman. One of his hands had automatically reached for the pendant on his chest while the other hand gripped the handle of his scythe tightly. After seeing him practice fighting back in Konoha, she knew him to be a very volatile man. He'd go mad after the first insult. She was amazed that he hadn't swung the blade at the woman yet.

The woman had diverted her attention back to the keys right after saying that so she didn't even notice the looks she was receiving, let alone the immensely awkward silence suddenly stretching between them. Luckily, Hidan recovered first and broke it as delicately as possible, refraining from cursing because he did not know what would happen next. Sakura was still registering what she'd just been told and was trying to keep herself from bitch-slapping the woman several times while asking 'What in the world gave you that idea?! Do we look like we're a happily married couple?! How-'

"Umm….we're not married…we're just partners…for a mission…" There was a pause as the keys stopped clinking together. The woman looked up at him and then at Sakura. Her voice wavered.

"Y-You're not?"

"….no…" Sakura said in a small voice. Then the lady's face contorted into the epitome of uncheerfulness and before the two shinobi knew it, they were being pushed back out of the hall and into the living room at a surprising speed; the entire time, the woman kept on raving in a high pitched fervor.

"I'm sorry! We can't let you stay here! I can't believe what this generation has come to! Sacrilege! I tell you! Sacrilege of the laws of humanity! You must leave immediately! We don't allow people like you in a town like this! I can't have people like you in my home! Out! Out! Out!"

The woman managed to get them herded into the front doorway and was about to deliver the final shove to push eject them from her house but Hidan blocked the doorframe by propping both his arms against it on either side while Sakura finally managed to ask why they were being kicked out, desperate to find a logical explanation for why she displeased this woman so.

"We'll still pay you ma'am! Why can't we stay?"

"Because! It's unheard of! Unmarried men and women sleeping in the same room! You shinobi are always coming here with all of your horribly sinful ideas! Well, you won't spread them here!" and in the moment that Hidan and Sakura stared at the woman dumbstruck, she delivered the final shove and kicked them out the door. Her husband showed up again from behind her.

"Go find another town to ruin, you filthy shinobi, we will not have the likes of you here." Then the door clicked shut and a series of tumblers and bolts locked it into place, insuring the people inside that no 'filthy shinobi' would get in.

Hidan and Sakura slowly got off the ground where they landed and brushed themselves off as they looked at one another wide-eyed. Before Hidan could utter a word, Sakura cut him off,

"We are NOT going to Rain." Then she stalked away towards another house, leaving Hidan's mouth agape and index finger pointing upwards authoritatively before he ran the same hand through his hair, muttering.

"Woman….I wasn't even going to say that."

Sakura was fuming mad. She couldn't believe the lady had first of all, thought they were married, and then had THE NERVE to kick them out!

Sakura was headed diligently towards another house whose windows glowed, Hidan shouted at her as he caught up,

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Without breaking her speed, she replied,

"Trying again!"

"We'd be better off sleeping outside on the street! Didn't you hear that woman the first time? They're all like that! Those bastards are all uptight pricks!"

Sakura froze where she stood, her feet firmly planted on the ground as her hands balled into fists.

"…outside?" Her voice was low but quickly started to rise with each word.

_I can't sleep outside. Do you know what's out there?_

**Anything. You could wake up and the next thing you know…**

_You wouldn't want to wake up._

**Enemies are everywhere…**

"'Outside'? You want me to sleep outside?! It's too dangerous. There is no freakin' way I'm sleeping outside, Hidan! After all the time I put you up in my home, all you can offer me is to sleep outside?!" Suddenly she was in front of Hidan. She grabbed the front of his cloak and pulled his face in front of hers and shouted,

"I'd sooner make a tent out of your skin and bones then sleep outside since that's the only way you're being helpful in this situation!"

Letting go of him, she started toward the house again. Hidan was startled by her rather violent outburst. He wanted to ask her why she was so worried. He knew he didn't say it much but wasn't it obvious that he would keep her from getting harmed? That he would protect her? Wearing a tight frown on his face, he managed to appear right next to Sakura as the door to the house opened and a woman who looked similar to the one before peeked out.

"….yes? May I help you?"

"We're sorry to bother you this late, but my partner and I are tired travelers in need of rest, will you help us?" Sakura decided to change tactics this time, trying to go for a forlorn look, she subtly pouted her lips. Hidan looked at her from the side with a concerned glance and decided that she looked ridiculous, he suppressed a sigh. Did she really want to sleep indoors that she was willing to use tactics like that?

"….that depends. Are you two related?" The woman asked slowly, stiffly.

Sakura opened her mouth to reply but Hidan was the one to answer this time.

"Yes-we're married." He said nonchalantly with the plainest face ever. The only thing that kept Sakura's face from showing surprise was the fact that she had had shinobi training. She was sure that if she let her eyes widen, her cheeks color over, and her mouth hang open, it would look very suspicious to the woman who was studying her face intently. She forced a small smile onto her face and cast a sharp glance at Hidan as they both, once more scooted closer together. The woman in turn only narrowed her eyes and folded her arms over her chest.

"Really? I didn't think that they would let a married couple on a mission together."

This time, Hidan had to keep his eyes from showing surprise. He cursed himself inwardly for thinking that everyone in the village was ignorant of shinobi just as the first couple had been. Hidan supposed that this was the best time to act like the shinobi he was and apply the art of deception. He decided to string the story along, act natural….he wasn't sure how but he figured that all he had to do was say the things that would convince her….and then ask Jashin-sama to forgive him for lying later.

"heheheh….and why would you say that?" He gave a relaxed, easy-going smile. Sakura quietly watched the spectacle unfold. She'd never seen Hidan quite like this before and she had mixed feelings about it. She wanted to make fun of him for going that far, but simultaneously, she wanted gape in awe for pulling a trick like this. She honestly never believed him to have the capability to deceive people.

"Because they say that a couple's emotions get in the way of missions." That was the first time he noticed that the woman's accent and the way she spoke was actually quite eloquent and cultured. Though in her old age, her face looked withered and her voice had a slight callousness to it, those traits were probably the lasting whispers of a formal education.

_Shit_

Hidan thought to himself as he began to feel perspiration gather at the nape of his neck. _Why the hell does this lady know this stuff?_ Because of course, she was right. It was a general rule among shinobi to not send couples on missions together unless they were to play the part of a couple in the first place.

"Well then, you have nothing to worry about. My wife and I are one of the best at what we do which is why the Hokage chose us. If you have any qualms about how one your country's leaders does her job, please go tell her yourself." Hidan bit out carefully, thinking it up as he went along. Meanwhile, Sakura stood silently by Hidan's side, trying her best to remain placid and 'unemotional' even though that was the opposite of what she as feeling on the inside.

Then mention of the Hokage seemed to appease the woman as she looked the two once more.

"Very well. I can see that one of you is at least a shinobi. You seem like a very reasonable young woman, dear." And then she turned to Hidan, "Your wife seems very tired sir, and frankly, if you wish to have children, she shouldn't be put through such conditions. We have a spare bedroom."

Sakura looked appalled and Hidan looked stunned, both speechless. The woman quickly ushered them in and lead them to another door. The pair followed behind in shocked silence. Hidan could feel his face burning up and he refused to look at Sakura who was doing the exact same thing since she was feeling the same way. Both of their shinobi training went down the drain at this point. He sent up a silent prayer to Jashin, thanking him that the woman had his back to the two shinobi, for had she seen the tinted cheeks of a supposedly married man talk about future children in front of his wife, she surely would have spotted the ruse that was in play.

"Well, this will be your room, sir. The bathroom is across the hall. It'll be 20 for the night, more if you decide to stay for breakfast." The woman then shut the door to leave the shinobi alone. As soon as it's mechanism clicked, Sakura locked it and turned around slowly, shutting her eyes and taking a deep breath.

_She thinks we're married._

**She thinks you're married.**

_To _him!

**That's great!**

_NO! What happens if word gets out?_

**You should play your role better.**

_NO! Shut up! Don't talk like that! I don't even like him like that!_

**Yes you do! Now go be a wifey!**

_No! He's my friend! Why the hell did he say something like that?! We're still in Fire country! If word got back, my life will be over! _

Then before Hidan knew what happened, she was in front of him, pulling him down by the collar of his cloak to her face level so that he could clearly see the viciousness on her face, as if it wasn't already palpable enough by her aura alone. She was all in an angry fluster. Hidan knew what this was about. Before she could say anything (or do any bodily harm), he grabbed her wrists as he told her,

"Look, it got us a room for the night, right?" Growling in response, she tried to shake her hands loose, but he held on until she gave up on her physical assault to move into the verbal one.

"But married, Hidan? You could have said you were my brother or my cousin or some other freaking relative. Why that?! God knows what she thinks we're doing right now! And what happens if Konoha found out?!" As she said that, Sakura's voice went through several pitches.

"Well, that was the first 'relationship' that came to mind since the last lady shouted us down and kicked us out because of it. Besides, Konoha knows it's all for the mission." He replied carefully, trying to make the hyperventilating kunoichi calm down and understand. It was hard enough for him to play a ruse like that, and seeing Sakura blush over the issue was beginning to make him feel very self-conscious as well. But really, it was only a split second decision on his part. One of those life or death things. He did what he had to do so why couldn't she understand that?

"But Hidan! Wh-"

Hidan shut his eyes and cut her off as he pushed her hands down. Sakura stared at her hands in his and suddenly felt very conscious of her rapidly beating heart. Inner Sakura had just fainted. Sakura felt her anger crumbling.

"Listen Sakura," He said lowering his voice slightly. Sakura stood there in silence taking in his sudden change of tone. "I only did it because you wouldn't sleep outside. If it's seriously eating you up inside, go tell the lady the truth."

Sakura looked up at him and found his half-lidded and tired eyes reading truth and also a want of trust, she suddenly felt the tenderness of his touch on her hands. There were too many thoughts going through her head and it wasn't just Inner-Sakura's fault anymore. This man….was her friend. Somehow, he had become one of her precious people. Everybody in Konoha already knew that….so would it be so bad if they thought of them as anything more? Sakura mentally shook her head. Hidan was more then a friend to her…she didn't know how but she depended on him to try out her recipes, she depended on him to come home and argue with her, she depended on his presence to be nearby otherwise she would eat herself up in worry.

She looked down and found his hands gently holding hers instead of the death grip that he had on her earlier. He gave her hands a reassuring squeeze causing her to lift her head back up to look at him.

"I don't care anymore," he said lowering her hands. He gently moved his hands up her arms and had them rest at her elbows. "Whatever happens….happens." And with that he dropped his hands by his side and walked over to his side of the bed and sat down with his back facing her. Sakura could hear him un-strap the scythe from his back and leaned it against the bedside wall. There was the faint jingle of metal against metal as he removed his weapons holsters and laid them on the night stand.

He didn't say a word more. She felt like she'd just been slapped. She felt awful as she realized how she had just treated him. She grit her teeth and balled her hands into fists and squeezed. Maybe the pain she was inflicting on herself would help ease the growing guilt in her heart. Unfortunately, it only woke up Inner Sakura.

**I can't believe you did that!**

_I knowww…_

**And he was being so nice to you…**

_…I feel awful…_

**You should…**

Sakura hadn't turned around to face him yet. She wasn't sure if she could. At the moment, all the could see was the locked door and further along the wall was the sparsely furnished vanity**. **She wanted to cry, she wanted to shout, to scream at Hidan 'I'm sorry, I'm stupid, please forgive me!' but she knew that words like that do not mean anything. Once they are said, they simply vanish into the air. Everything they signify is gone. Meaningless. If they meant nothing to her, what were they to an immortal?

Sakura suppressed a sigh so that he wouldn't hear her. She stepped towards the door and laid her hand on it's center, letting it slowly slide to the door handle. Maybe it'd be better if she just left he room? Told the woman the truth? Slept outside?

**No. That would defeat the purpose of coming here. All of Hidan's efforts would be wasted.**

_Especially since he did all this for me…_

**And do you want that to happen?**

Sakura's hand rested on the door handle, she let her fingers run over the smooth, cool brass a couple times before sliding away once more, but this time, over the molding and onto the wall. Sakura walked along the wall, staring at the blank space with a forlorn expression as her fingers created invisible trails on the dry surface, making a soft 'ssh' sound.

She walked until she reached the vanity, noticing the small stool, she sat down in front of the vanity, the upholstery on the stool crinkling under weight. She was facing the mirror. It was somewhat dusty, and that added with the dimmed lights in the room, caused her reflection to have a yellowish-gray tint. She stared into the mirror and looked at herself and her grim expression. Her pale face, her flat pink hair, her tired, travel-worn green eyes. She touched her cheek with a finger.

_What kind of mess have I gotten into this time?_

**You're on an S-class mission, or did you forget?**

_Why am I being so stupid? I should know better than this.._

**He's your partner and your friend…**

_Hidan…_

Her eyes widened when she saw his reflection right behind her head. She shifted a little to see more clearly.

He then slipped off his cloak to reveal a smooth, bare back.

All of a sudden she felt nervous. Her face flushed and she felt like she was watching something she shouldn't have. And she didn't even know why.

**It's not like I haven't seen it before **, Inner Sakura scoffed.

_I'm a medic, it was all in the line of duty._

**Yeah right, tell me you didn't enjoy it. Not even just a little.**

Inner Sakura was twitching to get a closer look. To touch him. But all Sakura wanted to do was apologize. She hated this silence and she hated it even more because it was all her fault. Then to top it all off, she knew that she had to do something about her inner feelings or they would go rampant and she would end up doing something she would regret. Of that, she was sure.

Hidan shifted his shoulders up and down and cranked his neck around. Sighing softly, he brought a hand up to massage the back of his neck before slipping a finger under his rosary strap and following it down. Sakura assumed that he was fiddling with his rosary now.

**Praying probably.**

_Oh gosh!_

**What?**

_He only does that when he's seriously stressed…_

**Then go fix it!**

Sakura pursed her lips and closed her eyes, taking in a small breath before quietly standing up and turning around. She opened her eyes again to face Hidan's back and began taking slow, tentative steps. With each step she took, she gained more courage to face him. The muscles on his slim, pale back rippled whenever he shifted as they marked him to be the shinobi that he was, but his hunched over shoulders and tucked down head made him seem all the more feeble.

She now stood behind him. He knew she was there but he did not turn to acknowledge her. She heard him muttering under his breath as he held his rosary to his lips. She wondered if his eyes were closed, and if they were, were they tightly shut because he was trying to ignore her, or were they lightly closed and peaceful, as if her were meditating. But the fact that he dismissed her presence in general dampened her spirit and made it all the more difficult for her to apologize.

She reached a shaky hand forward to touch his shoulder and nearly flinched at the contact…except it wasn't because she was scared of him or what he would say, actually, it was more because she had to touch his bare shoulder. Outside of the medical field, she wasn't used to skin-to-skin contact with the opposite sex.

"Hidan…." The pads of her fingers rested feather-light on his skin. Her voice was soft. Unsure. There was a pause in his muttering, before it continued again, slower then before. Carefully, she let her fingers relax until her hand rested completely on his shoulder.

"Hidan…Hidan, listen…I'm sorry…about earlier…I…" Suddenly Sakura got so caught up in her remorse that she had to clutch both hands to her chest before she could continue, "I shouldn't have gotten so upset over something like this, I was just being stupid, I-"

"It's okay Sakura, I understand." Hidan turned around abruptly to cut her off mid-speech. Sakura's eyes lit up with hope.

"Really?"

"Nope." Hidan shrugged as he looked at her. " I swear to Jashin-sama that I have no clue why you went psycho over that little lie but at least saying that got you to stop talking like this. Seriously. It's not like you to be all mope-y, it was getting annoying."

Sakura balked and had to sit down to try to make sense of what he had just said.

"…Then you're not mad at me?" Hidan smirked at her.

"It's funny how you couldn't stand the silence for even an entire two minutes."

"It wasn't two minutes! It was longer then that!" In her vehemence, Sakura forgot about her original question.

"No, it was actually 1 minute and 56 seconds. Trust me. I was counting." He grinned as he dangled his rosary in front of her face. That's when she realized that he hadn't been praying to Jashin, he had been counting the entire time! Like it was some sort of sick joke to him!

**That bastard! Who does he think he is?!**

_But at least he's talking to me again._

She wanted to throttle him of course, but subdued her anger quickly.

"So does this mean that everything is fine between us?"

"That's kinda hard to say right now since my neck is killing me." Hidan grimaced as he rubbed his neck and craned it around once.

"Wait-Wha-When did you get hurt?" Sakura's train of thought moved from worrying over Hidan being angry at her to trying to figure out what he was talking about to worrying over why he was hurting since she had been with him the entire day and he hadn't done anything that would hurt now. Suddenly she was all concern. She couldn't help but try to help someone in pain.

"Ah…it's nothing. I haven't felt like this in a while. It could have been worse. Jashin-sama could have smote me already." He sighed, closing his eyes and letting his head fall back.

Sakura's hands were simply itching to do something about Hidan's ache. She stood on her knees behind him on the bed.

"Here, let me see what's wrong." Hidan snapped his eyes open to see an upside-down Sakura.

"Hey, hold on…if you're going to try that healing chakra thing again, I don't know if it'll work this time."

"What are you talking about, Hidan? Of course it'll work, why wouldn't it?" And then her hands began glowing green in an ethereal light as she grasped his neck again, her hand running over the beads on his rosary. For a moment, she was reminded of all the times when she held him like this when he was only a head…and didn't have…so much attached to him…Sakura's eyes slowly wandered from Hidan's face to his neck and then lower and lower…and lower…

**OMG! I Think I'm going to have a nosebleed!**

_Okay! That's enough Ms. Medic! Focus!_

Sakura blushed at her lack of self-control. Luckily, Hidan had his eyes closed again and his mouth hung slightly ajar as her chakra set to work. A small puff of air escaped from his lips that could have been a gasp had it been more forceful.

"What was that Hidan? That this wouldn't work?"

The corner of Hidan's mouth stretched up slightly.

"Yeah…I guess I was wrong…"

"Of course you were, I'm the best medic around. How could you even doubt me in the first place?" Sakura stopped healing for a moment and shifted their positions until Hidan was sitting further back on the bed and Sakura sat behind him with her legs folded beneath her.

"It's back." His voice was laced with irritation, that much was evident, but the way he said it seemed more like a question. A pondering thought.

"Hm? The pain? It should be okay by now." Sakura had stopped healing for a moment, thinking that a minor neck ache would be fine after a few a minutes of chakra. She put her hands back on his neck.

"It was while you were doing whatever you were doing, but it came back when you stopped." Sakura paused in her healing again.

_This is weird. I wonder what's going on with him._

**Give it more juice.**

So Sakura pumped in three times as much chakra as would normally be needed for a minor muscle ache. She sometimes did that when treating the elderly because the effect was more potent and long lasting.

"Wow-what did you do?" Hidan's eyes popped open when he felted an intense flow of soothing chakra. The ache was gone entirely and the sensation of this much chakra felt very familiar for some reason.

"I added more chakra this time…why did you think I wouldn't be able to heal it in the first place?" Sakura folded her hands in her lap to look at him clearly as he twisted around a bit to speak to her. He looked like he was contemplating what to say, he opened his mouth once but closed it again.

"Well?" Sakura looked at him inquisitively. Hidan licked his lips to speak and for a moment, Sakura got caught off guard.

**I definitely need to move away from him.**

_Ssh! He's saying something!_

"…well…it's hard to explain to somebody like you…but you already know so much…so I guess it's okay…"

"Hidan, stop beating around the bush."

"Okay, okay…did you…notice anything different about the pain while you were healing me?" She raise a brow.

"No…why? What are you talking about?"

"Oh…I thought maybe you might since it's not the same type of pain you'd get in battle. It's from Jashin-sama." Now Sakura was really having a hard time understanding what he was talking about. She knew about his religion…but what did it have to do with pain like this?

Hidan abruptly turned his back to her once again and held his head in his hands as he stared at the floor between his knees. He looked down at his bare feet and wiggled his toes and sighed.

"I thought this might happen. The time was going to come sooner or later. Dammit."

"Hidan, what are you talking about?" Sakura worriedly edged closer to him.

"Jashin-sama is calling. He wants his dues soon. I haven't done the ritual in two years, technically, but I've had my body back for a while now."

Sakura pulled away from him wide-eyed at the mention of his rather crude faith.

_Ritual? What ritual? What is he talking about?!_

**Is he going to kill somebody?!**

She didn't need to say anything more, the look on her face was enough to express her thoughts when he glanced at her morosely.

"If I don't submit someone to Jashin-sama's will every now and then, Jashin-sama will take back all the powers he's given me. The pain right now is just a little, but it's a sign that he's growing impatient…. The pain will grow, though. It'll get serious in a week or so if I don't…you know…" Hidan trailed off. He had already told Sakura about how Jashin-sama expected him kill those that caused others pain, but he hadn't told her what would happen if he didn't. He knew it would sour her towards his way of living, so he had tried to put it off as long as possible. But now, if he tried to avoid the calling any longer, the consequences would be dire.

* * *

I repeat:

**If any of you thought that I would abandon this story, then get real. This is the longest chapter I've ever written for any of my stories and it'd do very well for you to appreciate it. _I_ _took_ _my time for a REASON._**

**So please take _your_ time and leave a REVIEW.**

Tell me if you liked this chapter. I need some love, people.

And so do these guys: Mokana-Chan (KakaxSaku fans will like 'Metamorphosis') and Neonn ('Jujy Fruit' is one for SokkaxSuki and Zutara fans)

**Random:**_ I can't stand it if my bedsheets have characters on them. Creeps the hell out of me when I sleep._

**Reviewplz**


	4. Chapter 4

**Ahhhh!**

**Sorry I haven't been updating! The only excuse I have is my horrid combination of school and work.**

**But please enjoy this chapter, there will definitely be more to come :)  
**

* * *

_"If I don't submit someone to Jashin-sama's will every now and then, Jashin-sama will take back all the powers he's given me. The pain right now is just a little, but it's a sign that he's growing impatient…. The pain will grow, though. It'll get serious in a week or so if I don't…you know…" Hidan trailed off. He had already told Sakura about how Jashin-sama expected him kill those that caused others pain, but he hadn't told her what would happen if he didn't. He knew it would sour her towards his way of living, so he had tried to put it off as long as possible. But now, if he tried to avoid the calling any longer, the consequences would be dire._

_Chapter 4_

_Hidan's Lack of Words_

_---  
_

**So, that's it, huh?**

_He's going to kill someone else or he gets killed._

**Isn't there another way?**

_How can someone be so barbaric? To treat living people as mere peons or tokens?_

**A human life….you just can't put a price on it! It's not some method of bartering! Once a life is gone, it's gone! You can't reverse it!**

_A human life can only be replaced with another human life. That's what Grandmother Chiyo taught me. That's how she saved Gaara._

Sakura's thoughts were interrupted by her partner's murmurs,

"I know what you're thinking now, that I'm a horrible person. That I kill people just for the sake of killing them; just because Jashin-sama said that I have to so that I don't get punished...and let me tell you, you're not wrong. I am a an awful person. After knowing all this, I don't know how you can even stand to be around me anymore." Sakura was about to say something, but he cut her off again without realizing that she wanted to speak.

"Most believe that my religion is full of inhumane practices, but really that's all a matter of how you look at things. A matter of perspective. Your friend back in Konoha, that Deer-boy, what was his name? Shakamara? He would agree."

Sakura balked. She really didn't want to think about this anymore. It was too much.

"Hidan…" her voice was low and weak. She stood up even though her legs were trembling. She bolted out of the room before finishing her sentence. Hidan yelled after her in shock as he grabbed for her hand. But she was too quick and he was off guard.

Hidan cursed and ran a hand through his hair. He had wanted her to stay so he could finish explaining or at least hear what she thought about his issue. He let out a frustrated sigh. He knew that it was an information overload for Sakura. Obviously, he had an inkling of how she felt, but he wanted her to know everything and then hear her response clearly from her own lips. He had taken the risk but had expected too much from her. He definitely did not think that she would run away. She wasn't like that. But the fact that she just did probably meant that this subject was really hard for her to hear. This _definitely_ said something about her feelings. And now she was gone. She had just run away from him.

_Shit_.

Hidan slapped himself, grabbed his cloak, and took off out of the room as well. He had to find her. There was a chance she would still be in the house or somewhere nearby. But even though she hadn't grabbed her things before leaving, she could take the extreme route and completely high-tail it out of there and away from him. He had to find her quick before she had a chance to run far if that _is_ what she did. He was absolutely mad with worry about her. He didn't want her to run away from him! She was one of the few people whose existence actually mattered to him. He cared about her and there was no way he would let her run off believing that he's some horrible, sadistic monster who needs to kill others to stay alive…even though that is basically who he was, _she_ wasn't allowed to think that way. She just couldn't.

He ran out of the house and searched the entire town. At each place he stopped at and didn't see her, he angrily cursed and asked for Jashin's help to find her. He was pretty sure that some of the townspeople heard him. They would likely get up in the morning and perform some sort of anti-curse ceremony thinking that he put a hex on all of their homes.

The town was small, it didn't take very long before he returned empty handed to the house they were spending the night at. He sluggishly walked by the sitting room and noticed that the woman whose house they were staying at was relaxed into a chair and reading a book in the low light from a handful of flickering candles. She didn't look up at him when he stared at her tiredly.

"If you're looking for your wife, she's in the kitchen."

Hidan's eyes widened in surprise at the unfamiliar word. _Wife_. Then he remembered who she was referring to and who he was after. There was a childish flicker of hope within him.

"Thank you!" Hidan turned to go but stopped, his foot still lifted in the air. He turned around sheepishly,

"Ah…Oba-san, where is the kitchen?"

She gave a small, tight smile as she finally looked up.

"Around the corner. She looked upset. It was obviously your fault. Are you ready to talk to her again?"

Hidan who was tensed up and ready to run to the kitchen, paused and looked at the woman, frowning. She stared at him with knowing eyes. She was a total stranger and yet, somehow, she had figured out the mess he was in already. He speculated whether to talk to her or not. This anonymous old lady who had given the two shinobi her home for the night. Finally, he replied in a measured tone,

"I don't know if I am ready to talk to her, it's more important that she's willing to hear everything I have to say." _I give up. I'm no good at....people things. Or Sakura things. Jashin-sama...I don't think you have a girlfriend._

The woman shut her book and laid in her lap.

"Did you make a mistake?"

Hidan sighed and leaned against the doorway as he ran a hand through his hair for the hundredth time that night.

"Lady, I've made a lot of mistakes, but she's not upset about those."

"I see. You know her well enough to be sure of this?"

"I do." His facial expression was relaxed.

"I do not think I can be of any help to a married couple such as yourselves, but tell me why she's in the kitchen right now by herself. She wanted to get away from you."

Hidan rubbed his temple and looked down guiltily.

"We had a disagreement over something."

"I see. Do you love her?" Hidan flinched at the old lady's directness. _Jashin-sama! What is this? An interrogation? I bet she's getting a kick out of it._

"I have to make sure she's okay. I'm going now."

Hidan abruptly walked away from the lady as he blushed angrily.

"I see." The woman said again to herself as she watched him leave. Picking up her book, she continued reading from where she had left off.

---------

Sakura stood with her face leaning against the cool glass of the kitchen window. The night was pitch black outside. She couldn't even see any stars. She huffed in frustration and the condensation built up on the glass immediately. She backed up and picked up her glass of water. She swirled it around for a moment then raised the glass to her lips. Right when she was about to take a sip, she heard her name and then a great sigh of relief. Looking up, she saw Hidan as he entered the kitchen. When she met his eyes, he paused. She didn't say anything. Her face was neutral. Her eyes were big and glassy as she held his gaze, she looked like she could cry at any moment, but they were watery only because she had been thinking so hard. She was looking at him in a new light. He took a tentative step forward.

"Hidan." He stopped moving at the sound of her voice. He felt that she might bound away like a frightened rabbit at the smallest movement.

"Do you hate me? If you do, I don't blame you. That's completely normal since mo-"

"Hidan, I don't hate you." Hidan's mouth was still formed around 'mo' but once he processed what he had heard, his eyes lit up from their original gloomy state and he immediately straightened up and smiled.

"Really? Oh…well, that's a relief. Hehehe…a first if-" But he was growing impatient. He was bursting with the need to tell her everything he could. He was worried that the longer he didn't clarify, the harder it would become to erase any misgivings that she had.

"But I _despise_ what you intend to do." Her words were harsh but her face did not show any antagonism. It looked like she was simply stating a fact. Hidan's own face fell. He was about to speak again but she cut him off before he could even get a single word out.

"I don't know how else to feel right now, Hidan. And…we still have this mission to do."

"If you don't want to be with me, that's fine. I can do this mission alone as long as I know that you're safe and you don't hate me."

Immediately Sakura's blank face turned furious and she shoved his shoulder, though it had no effect.

"Hidan, you jerk! That's the second time you've told me to leave! Who do you think you're talking to? I'm your _partner_ on this mission, for god's sake. We're in this together!"

"Ow." Hidan rubbed the spot where she hit him and looked at her solemnly. Although he was thankful that she didn't hate him, he definitely preferred for her not to be there. But how in the world could he tell that to her? He severely wished that he could simply relay his feelings to her rather then his reasons. He knew for a fact that people sympathized with feelings faster then with cold, hard facts.

"Sakura, I don't want you to see what I'll have to do for this mission. You know what I'm going to have to do eventually." Sakura looked at him as if she were about to say something but stopped. She looked away frowning and hugged herself. Hidan took another step forward._Okay, if she's yelling at me...then that's good, at least she's not somewhere else not-talking to me._

"I-I know. I know what you have to do. But I'll deal with it when the time comes. For now, we're going to continue _our_ mission."

Sakura squeezed her eyes shut. It was hard, really, really hard, for her not to do something about it. But, in the end, it all came down to a basic principle.

You can't condemn someone for something they haven't done yet.

And Hidan had most definitely not done that yet.

Therefore, she would stay with him for as long as possible.

"I'm definitely not going anywhere."She reiterated the most important thing.

After her admission there was silence. She cracked open her eyes to find Hidan staring at her stoically. He was at a loss. There was the immediate sense of relief in that part of him that sought instant gratification, but then other part, the smarter part that knew better, let out a long, sorrowful sigh. It's only satisfaction would come from knowing that this important, pink haired person was somewhere safe and far away and not scared.

The heavy long seconds ticked away before he carefully grabbed her shoulders and brought their faces together. The entire time, neither broke eye-contact. It was a daring move on both their parts.

Sakura's pulse quickened. She was sure of what would happen next. Her body seemed to become extra sensitive and she could feel the heat coming off of the man in front of her. Where his hand was on her shoulder, the skin seemed to be burning. Did he realize what he was doing?

And then he tilted his head forward slowly and Sakura watched through half-lidded eyes as his features blurred out as he got closer and closer. She was barely breathing anymore. She knew for certain what would happen next and outside of that, there wasn't a single other thought in her head. The brilliant mind that she took so much pride in was now blank. This would be her first real kiss. She could feel his breath on her cheek.

"What are you thinking? Right now?" He breathed and his words feathered across her face. Hidan knew very well what he was doing and what effect he was having on her. He wanted her to understand everything. He wanted her to _know_. He wanted to kiss her.

Perhaps that _was_ the answer to all his prayers. He might transfer all his feelings onto her, into her and then, perhaps she would finally understand and listen and do as he wanted her to.

"N-Nothing." She stammered. It was the truth. In anticipation, her mind was void of rationale.

She heard him sigh and then a heavy weight deposited itself on her right shoulder. His hands dropped from her shoulders to her sides, enveloping around her and pulling close. Suddenly, Inner-Sakura was wide awake and protesting as loud and as hard as the sane do at gas prices during holiday season.

**WHATWHATWHATWHAT!!!!**

_What happened?_

**Nothing! Nothing happened! And I was sooo ready for it!**

_Forget that...he's hugging me now!_

Sakura could feel it every time he took a breath. Every time his heart beat. He was that close. And then,  
she realized that he could probably feel her breath and her escalating heart beat as well.

_Not good, Sakura. You need to calm down._

**Do you **_**want**_** him to know how high you're feeling right now?**

She tapped into some of her chakra and forced her body to calm down.

Hidan had stopped himself. He _had_ to. He had the smallest inkling that if he did not stop himself, then things might take a turn for something more complicated.

"Thank Jashin you're still here. Don't scare me like that again. I thought you ran away. Seriously. I know we've been over this, but I dragged my ass all over this Jashin-forsaken town looking for you." He sounded angry, but he was talking into her crook of her neck. She couldn't see his face at the moment but she could feel his lips move to shape every word he said.

Sakura looked at him wide-eyed in shock, her mouth seemed to be working but no words were coming out. Hidan lifted his head to look at her and his eyes softened. He was about to say something, but a split second later, he changed his mind and looked away from her. Trying to focus on anything but the pink-haired girl, he stood straight abruptly and ran a hand through his hair. This was the closest he'd gotten to her. To showing her his true feelings. It was annoying that he held back. He didn't want to, but he felt compelled to not let their relationship get anymore complicated then it already was. They were in that hazy place that's more then friends, but not lovers. A symbiotic partnership, perhaps? No, they weren't animals. Hidan cursed himself for even comparing their relationship to a lifeform less then a human.

Regardless of what their relationship could be considered, both Hidan and Sakura thought exactly the same thing: _That was close_.

Sakura was even more confused then before. She _knew_ she had feelings for him. And worse yet, she was beginning to suspect that they were on that same level as they had been for that Uchiha way back when, if not greater. Maybe it was just hormones. She blinked tersely. If it really was her hormones, then her hormones had the worst timing in the world. Popping up during a mission like this.

She touched the side of her neck where he had rested his head. The place felt empty suddenly. Cold; devoid of the hothead's heat. Her fingers not finding the weight she had so clearly felt should be there, simply clamped around the back of her neck. She cast a furtive glance over her arm towards Hidan who looked like he was busy counting on his rosary. His lips were moving. She stared a little longer trying to read them, wondering if he was being an ass and counting again. Suddenly his lips stopped moving and he looked up. She quickly looked away trying to suppress her blush and hoping for all hope that he didn't just see her blush like a little girl.

_Those damned hormones. Why now?_

**Sure, blame the hormones.**

A soft smile played on her lips in spite of herself and her antics, but it was only there for a second before it faded with her next thoughts.

Why was it that her heart went out to this man, her partner, and wanted to get closer to him but at the same time, repel him? It was as if he were a magnet, but rather then having his polarities straight, the electrons were spinning like mad all over the place. There were so many things that attracted her to him, but at the same time, there were so many things that absolutely repelled her. Pushed her away. So much so that it hurt.

She pursed her lips and started out of the kitchen. Hidan watched her exit the kitchen completely before he quietly followed. This time he was seriously praying to Jashin to help him keep his cool. They made it back to their room. Sakura had already taken up the vacant side of the bed. Hidan reached up over his shoulder and pulled off his cloak before tossing it onto the dresser chair.

Immediately, the movement caused him to flinch in pain and he grunted. And Sakura noticed right away. Of course she would, there was no reason for her to ever not notice. After all that was said and done, he had somehow worked his way into being one of her most cherished people.

That thought alone made him feel decidedly unsure of himself. Hidan groaned in frustration with himself. Unfortunately, Sakura took this as a sign of pain.

So while Sakura went into medic mode and buzzed around him, he let her. At least that way, he would have a chance to think about what kind of a mess he was in now.

'A Mess' he called it because that is exactly what was going to happen. He had a short, sweet, simple plan for Akatsuki and originally, Sakura hadn't really been part of the equation. He had been planning on leaving her safe; someplace away from those bastards. But now….things were getting very, very complicated. And it wasn't just because he had to find a sacrifice.

After the healing, the two shinobi awkwardly came to agree that it was now time to hit the sack. Not literally of course. Although if there were sacks, it would have made the situation much easier since they'd each have their own. Fortunately, that wasn't the case. Unfortunately, it was a single bed.

"Umm…well…"

"I'll get the lights, you go ahead first." Hidan said quickly, hoping to at least be not be able to see their awkward predicament in the dark. He didn't look at her as he got up to flick the light switch by the door.

"Ok…" Sakura quickly and quietly got under the covers and scooted to one side as far as she could and still be comfortable. When he could hear no more rustling, he clicked the lights off and carefully turned around in the dark, slowly maneuvering his way to the edge of the bed.

On his way though, he manage to bump into a wall, the vanity, the night stand, and finally, finally, the solid wooden feet of the bed. It wasn't until the last object, right before his final destination that he stubbed his toe really, really hard into the bottom of the bed frame. This time, he couldn't hold it in. He cursed. A colorful string of words that made Sakura's ears perk up and her eyes pop open. He fell to the bed clutching his toe. A few seconds later, the sharp pain faded to a dull ache. He groaned and flopped back onto his pillow.

After realizing what he'd just done, he of course slapped his forehead and decided to be a little more careful while actually on the bed now. He lay there quietly, flat on the bed, as straight as a board. Afraid to move too much lest it bother Sakura who was still lying on her side with her back to him. Neither of them said a word.

Hidan was most acutely aware that there was a girl lying on the bed beside him. He wasn't sure if he was imagining it or not, but he could _feel_ the heat that her body emitted. He could hear her steady breathing. He counted the seconds between each soft breath.

_1…2…3…4_

It was four. Exactly four seconds between each breath. He turned slightly to look at her form. He grimaced. He had forgotten it was dark and that he wouldn't be able to see anything.

She wasn't moving or anything. She was probably asleep.

_Well…that makes one of us._

Then Hidan's eyes widened and he nearly gasped aloud as he thought of something utterly important.

_How can she sleep so easily on the same bed as a guy!?_

He curled onto his side and scowled into the dark where she should be.

_Jashin damn__it! Why is she so comfortable like this?_

He directed his questions towards her, fuming, hoping somehow that they would reach her through some form of hidden subconscious telepathy.

There were a dozen different scenarios running through his mind as he tried to figure out the answer. As he thought about it more and more, he had the niggling suspicion that she had slept with other men before.

_NO! Sakura would never do that! She's not that type of girl! Get a hold of yourself Hidan!_

The intensity of Hidan's thoughts flared up the dull beginnings of a headache. He turned back onto his back and clutched his head between his hands, pushing down on his pillow.

_Jashin help me!_

"Hidan...are you still up?" Sakura's whisper pulled Hidan out of his frenzied state. Disoriented, he couldn't help but stutter as he replied all too quickly like an eager little school boy.

"Y-yeah. I'm awake. What is it?"

"No...it's nothing..."

Hidan knew that it was a fact of life that whenever a girl said those exact words, it was an all out lie. A blashpemy, if you will. There was never 'nothing'; there was always something. And fortunately for Hidan, it was this something that he was going to cling on to for dear life to get his mind out of the gutter and stop worrying about Sakura and her sleeping habits.

"Jashin told me there's something. So spit it out." Hidan waited for an answer, instead he heard a rustling of the covers. Sakura was moving around.

_Jashin-sama! What is she doing?_

He waited. And waited some more. Finally he heard a sigh...and was that a giggle? Of all things Sakura was allowed to do in a situation like hers, giggling like a little girl was not one of them. At least, according to Hidan.

_Sakura! What are you doing?! This is no time to be giggling! Dammit, don't go crazy on me!_

But even as Hidan mentally shouted that, he couldn't help but wonder why in the world this girl was giggling in the middle of a dangerous, S-Class mission.

"It's...This is weird."

_Huh?_

"Huh?"

"I've never slept like this before..." She said. Hidan breathed a sigh of relief as knot of tension released itself from his mind. And then she continued, "I mean, i've slept with _you_ before-"

Hidan nearly jumped out of the bed at that. Wondering how in the world he had slept with Sakura before and not remember it. Had Jashin-Sama wiped his memory away? No freakin way. Hidan was about to pull his rosary out from underneath the covers to start praying again but a tug on blanket made Hidan realize that Sakura was still talking.

"-but you've always been...you know..."

_I've always been what? 'You know' what?!_

Hidan blinked in the dark and forced himself to calm down.

"I...I've been what, Sakura?"

"You know....you've always been on my dresser....in a box....and not on my bed."

_Ah....Jashin dammit all. _That's _what she was talking about._

Hidan let out a small nervous laugh. It was more because he felt like a fool for thinking what he did, and less for Sakura's benefit. But more or less, that laugh did make her feel better.

They woke up the next morning in the most unlikely of positions.

Sakura found herself on the floor and Hidan jerked awake because he nearly suffocated himself in the blanket he was wrapped in.

Both too embarrassed about their individual situations, they got up quietly and got ready, taking turns going into the rest room and getting changed in the bedroom.

As Sakura strapped her kunai holster in place, she let out a morose sigh. It was irritating that her muscles ached but one couldn't expect anything else when sleeping on the floor in unnatural positions. Clicking her tongue, she administered to herself with some chakra and paid no mind to this extra task because in a situation like hers, it definitely could have been worse.

When Hidan and Sakura finally began eating the hot breakfast that their host had prepared for them, they nearly choked; one on coffee, the other on some toast; because they looked outside at the same time.

The sun was nearly at its zenith.

The old lady watched them with an amused expression that niether of the shinobi could ever imagine her to have. The two were moving in near synchronization as soon as they got sense of the time. Their sense of urgency was snapped silmultaneously into action.

"So I take it that you two are on better terms today then last night." She gazed at them from across a table laden with un-burned toast and jam, honey and steaming oatmeal, berries, fresh coffee, and even warm milk.

"Oh yes, of course." Sakura nodded vigorously as she stuffed an entire slice of toast in her mouth before taking a swig of coffee in a way no drunkard could compare to beer.

"This food is very good, Oba-san." Hidan added as he reached across for another helping.

"We're actually running very late now. I'm sorry that we're pigging out like this." Sakura ungracefully shoveled more into her mouth and wrapped a few more morsels in napkins to take along on the trip. It wasn't often that shinobi had such a platter laid out before them for breakfast. Besides that, they were in a hurry. They were already a few hours behind thanks to falling asleep late and making up for it the morning.

They made small talk in between bites and swallows over the next few minutes until everything was cleared away.

The shinobi thanked the woman and paid her at the door. Hidan even bowed his head just a tad in respect, which earned him an incredulous look from Sakura who wondered if the food they had been given was really worth so much to him.

"Oh yes, take this as well." The lady handed Sakura a satchel.

"Hmm...what is it?" She looked at it quizzically.

"Herbs for women's things. You should take care of yourself, kunoichi." It took a minute before it clicked and Sakura blushed furiously before thanking her and stuffing the satchel inside one of her pockets.

Hidan, who still hadn't figured things out and probably never would, asked most uncouthly as they turned to leave,

"What was the package that she just gave you? More food?"

"No, nothing. It was nothing. Which way are we going?" She quickly walked ahead of him and he picked up the pace to follow her, unsure if she had just avoided his question or not.

"Eh...oh, north. We're going north first. We'll hit the border in about a hundred miles."

"Ok, I'm guessing we can tell when we hit a wall of water." She called over her shoulder as she leapt into the forest right outside the village border.

"Yeah. Hey!" He chased after her disappearing figure, wondering when and how they had switched places. He always thought that _he_ was the one who was always hurrying to get to Rain country....so how did this happen?


	5. Chapter 5

**Oh hey pplz**

**I've done up a new chapter quicker then before because I've neglected this story for so many months.**

**It's shorter then usual, but you won't have to wait as long for chapters. \^0^/ Less wait! More chapters!  
**

**Thanks to my beta Neonn because she's always ready to read over my crap for me.  
**

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"Sakura!"

Sakura halted a few yards away from the sheets of rain that were pouring down from the sky above.

"What is it, Hidan?"

Hidan came to a stop next to her. He swung his scythe into the ground and ran a hand through his hair.

There was a light sheen of sweat on his brow that he wiped it away with the back of his hand. His breathing wasn't heavy or anything and there were no signs of fatigue, but he felt like his insides were burning. He was unbelievably thirsty.

Sakura knew what this stop was for without him having to say so. Over the last few hours, they had stopped more times then necessary for Hidan to take a swig of water.

She glanced over at him somewhat worried. If she asked him how he was doing, he'd give that same answer, "I'm fine! Just thirsty. Where's the canteen?", and refuse any treatment she had to offer. He and that damn pride of his. He insisted that she save her chakra for the more important things ahead. He insisted that he did not need any healing. It was a Jashinist thing, and therefore, his own problem. In his mind, there was no need for him to drag her down, too.

"Sakura….", He said once more after finding the canteen and absolving his thirst for the moment; this time, plopping down on the dirt in a sturdy, thinker's position; arms crossed over his chest and legs folded Indian style. She took a step back to look at him properly.

_What in the world is he doing now?_

**I don't know, but it looks like he's about to get stubborn. Look at his eyebrows, they're knit together and he's looking down.**

_I hope it's not anything stupid. Does he realize how ridiculous he looks? If he's going for the 'saintly master' look, the scythe in the ground next to him doesn't enhance the effect._

"Hidan, what now?"

"Well, Jashin knows what's going on. We're about to go into Rain country. It's that bastard Pein's territory."

"Yeah….that's kind of a given."

Hidan shook his head,

"No, you don't get it…it's _his_ territory. That means he _knows_ everything that's going on once you step in."

Now that was weird, she thought. Pein, an omniscient overlord? Not possible. Definitely not.

"Hidan…you're making him sound like a god. There's no way one guy could possibly know everything, the way you're insinuating." Hidan shook his head and continued on in a serious tone.

"Sakura, you don't get it. Remember how he keeps calling himself a god?"

"Yeah, I just thought he was full of himself. So you're saying you believe him? Then…aren't you committing blasphemy or something!" She pointed an accusatory finger at him rather dramatically.

"Sakura." He sent a stern look, like that of a parent to a child. "You've never met this guy." Sakura continued pointing at him accusingly, he waited for her patiently to put her finger away. And waited. He closed his eyes. And waited. He opened them,

"I NEVER SAID HE WAS GOD! JASHIN-SAMA PLEASE FORGIVE ME!" So much for the sagely-ness. Hidan cleared his throat and continued, " Anyway…you've never met this guy, he's the sort that never jokes. He's dead serious all the time and looks like he's seriously in _pain_ with a stick shoved up somewhere...probably from all those Jashin-forsaken piercings on his freakin face…I'm not joking when I say he knows everything. That guy thinks he's a god because it's almost true. Well…_demi-god_. With all the power he has."

Sakura shrugged, still somewhat disbelieving,

"You're right in saying I've never met the guy-

"That's why you're still here to-" Hidan slapped his hands together, trying to get his point across but she cut him off, her tone mellow and logical.

"BUT if what you're saying is true…then how is it even possible? Is it a jutsu?"

"…I think so…but I'm not sure." Hidan paused as he tried to sort his thoughts out. Sakura sighed and finally sat down on the ground across from him. This whole thing was truly starting to sound a little too unreal. She thought that the matter would be simple enough, just sneaking into the country and secretly searching for the Akatsuki hideout without being detected.

"It's the rain." Hidan's voice cut through her thoughts.

"Huh?"

"It's the rain. He has some sort of jutsu. He uses the rain to see everything and sense everything."

"_Everything_?"

"Everything the rain touches."

**Eww…that sounds kind of creepy.**

_What if Pein is some sort of closet pervert?_

**We're going to use an umbrella. A really big umbrella.**

_We would if you had packed one, idiot._

**You're the idiot here. Helloooo, we were going to go to **_**Rain.**_

_Shinobi don't use umbrellas. The rain is supposed to hide us. How was I supposed to know it would have just the opposite effect?_

**Well **_**he**_** knew!**

…_you're right. I won't forgive him for this. But that's not the point. Focus, Sakura!_

Sakura looked over to the border where the Rain began and suppressed a shudder.

"Can he tell who individual people are through the rain? Or what they're thinking?" Her voice was had a worried timbre to it.

Hidan rolled his eyes as if that were the stupidest question in the world.

"He's not a mind-reader, Sakura. I think he'd actually have to touch you in order to that."

Sakura's mouth fell open just a little at the 'touch' part. Then she scrunched up her face in annoyance.

_I can't believe he's talking about it so lightly!_

**I can't believe he thinks he can make fun of me for not knowing this! That jerk! It's his fault!**

"Hidan, don't talk about it like it's not a big deal! And you didn't even answer my first question!"

"Well…I thought it was a given since he can probably feel your chakra through the rain."

"How is that a given?!" She shouted, angry at being belittled by someone such as Hidan.

"Hey! Watch it!" Hidan dodged the rock she flung at his head.

"Do you realize what this means?" She flung a second rock. "I can't believe you were planning on running into that country last night just like that! You knew all this but you didn't bother to tell me! What else do you know about Pein?" She flung a rock after each statement, emphasizing its importance. Hidan swiftly dodged each one, considering they were always, predictably, aimed for his head.

"Jashin damn it! I don't know anything else! I just forgot to tell you these things because they're like minor details!"

"_Minor. Details?_" She screeched, seeing red. She was angry at being belittled and for being treated as an outsider on this mission by her own partner and friend.

"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry!" Hidan jumped up to stand behind a tree, peaking around the trunk to see when she would throw the giant rock she had unearthed in her fury. "It's all chakra! That's all I know about that bastard! He can control the rain and senses everything through it through chakra, so it's normal he can sense a person's chakra, too." At the end of his statement, there was a moments silence, and then a loud, crunching noise as Sakura crushed the boulder, it's pieces crumbling down in front of her. The final bits that still remained in her hands, she flung down into the earth, where they embedded themselves deep enough to leave neat, little holes in the dirt. They could have probably been comparable to bullets.

Hidan stepped out from behind the tree, giving a small sigh of relief as he walked back to where they were before.

_Calm down, Sakura. He said he was sorry._

**That sorry excuse for a partner! We would have gone into Rain! We could have botched up this whole mission!**

_But remember, he stopped us just in time! _

**It was his fault in the first place!**

_Don't waste time on this right now, take out on him after the mission. Focus on getting it done. Take a deep breath._

"Hidan, this is ridiculous." Sakura frowned as she clutched at her head. "How are we supposed to sneak in? Did you have anything planned?"

"Uh…not really." Hidan looked down sheepishly. "That's kind of why I stopped you from running into Rain."

She looked up and sent him a glare that promised death in the immortal's future. It was so uncharacteristic for her to be glaring like that at him, he nearly balked. He would have liked to back away, but that would mean admitting that he had no pride in himself to be afraid of his partner on a mission. So instead, he stepped forward, wearing all his self-confidence on his sleeve and sounding a lot braver then he felt in the face of all that is known as Sakura.

"Don't look at me like that, Sakura. I know we can still get in. …Just not together."

The wheels of her thoughts suddenly screeched to a halt. She blinked at this new information.

"What? We're in this mission together, how could-"

"I know, I know. _Our_ mission. Just hold on a second and listen." Hidan paused because that look that Sakura was sending him now as she had her arms tightly folded across her chest, one of high dubiousness and ill reprieve, made him wonder just what would happen if she didn't like what he had to say. He was sure that if his status was equal to that of a cat, then he had probably used eight and a half out of nine of his lives with her.

"Pein won't know who you are since you've never entered Rain before. If you suppress you chakra, then even if he knows that some new girl has entered Rain, he'll just think you're a normal person instead of a shinobi. You know what I mean? You definitely have a chance of sneaking in undetected."

Sakura did something funny with her lip as she chewed on it and considered this.

"And? What about you? Why can't we go in together?"

"Simple. He knows who I am. He's seen me before. I've entered Rain before. Even if I suppress my chakra, he'll know it's me because he knows who I am and what I look like. Just from my body being in the rain, he'll know who it belongs to."

Sakura's brows were knit together, but her arms had come down to hang at her sides.

"But that's just-just…messed up! It's so wrong. The people of this country have no privacy! How could they live knowing they're being watched by someone all the time? It's so…so gross!"

It was Hidan's turn to let his mouth hang open. His worries and Sakura's worries were definitely not the same on this matter.

"Sakura, the people of this country aren't the issue. They don't even know they're being watched by the rain."

"I know…but still. It's just creepy. Besides…even if we split up, how would we find each other and know what's going on? If we're constantly being watched, how can we complete our mission? We have to first find the base, which you said is extremely hard to find, and then we have to gather information and try to stop them from going further with their plans if possible." Sakura squatted down and held her hands in front of her face, counting down all the things they had to do for this mission.

"Killing those bastards."

"Yes, killing those bastards…hey! Don't get ahead of yourself. _We_ are still _here_ and 'those bastards' are still in Rain somewhere. We have to get through all those things before we reach the last task." For some reason, this mission was starting to sound a lot like a suicide mission, but she knew Tsunade better then that. She'd never send Sakura on a mission like that. She expected Sakura to get back. Sakura bit her lip in frustration.

"Sakura…" Hidan took a hold of the hand she was counting on and pulled her up to him. "One way or another, this mission will be complete and you will survive to tell the Hokage."

"Hidan….I know you're trying to play debonair here, but that only works when the gentleman is a hundred percent sure of himself, you know. And we don't have a plan yet." In her current state, anything even slightly romantic was passing over her head without making a dent.

"You know I can never plan ahead. I thought we discussed this before?"

"Yes, but the no-plan plan only works for you Mr. I'm-So-Immortal-Nobody-Can-Kill-Me. Now let go of my hand." She tugged at her hand one way, but Hidan simply let his arm get pulled along with hers as he maintained his grip on her hand.

"No, I won't. I'm your partner Sakura and I am indebted to you for all that you've done for me. I want to know that you'll trust me to do what's best for the mission and that you will too. Jashin only knows what will happen next."

Sakura just hmph-ed and yanked her hand back.

"It's not possible for me to not trust you. But I think at this point, you're starting to sound a little too dramatic and clichéd. I know you want to say something, and you're trying to build up to it, so just say it already!"

Hidan balked. All of a sudden, getting a command like this from her? He blinked several times and stuttered over what he had to say,

"I-I..." _love you?_, he completed it in his head because that is what he really wanted to say….just not like this. This wasn't the right time for that sort of thing.

"Hidan, you were sounding so serious before….so please hurry up and tell me. I promise I won't judge you over not telling me like before."

"I…uh…Jashin damn it. I have a plan. Sort of." He ran a hand through his hair and looked down at the ground.

"Really? Then-"

"I don't think you'd like it, that's all. But… it's the best thing I could think of."

"It doesn't matter, it's the only one." Sakura sat down calmly and attentively on the ground once more. For all the world, looking up at Hidan like he was the teacher, and she, the student.

"Well…since I can't sneak in, and neither of us can find the Akatsuki hideout….I think it'd be best if I let them find me."

"….what?" He was making sense at first, but now he had just lost her.

"And then once I get in, I can just do what I have to do and get out." he explained like a professor.

Sakura knitted her brow.

"Hidan, that's the worst plan ever. There's so many things wrong with it. Especially the way you said it."

"What do you mean? It's not like we can plan every single thing out. Jashin only knows what will happen next. Seriously. We'll just have to make stuff up along the way based on our own skills. We'll have to ..to improvogate." Hidan scratched his head and looked down at her.

"The word is 'improvise', Hidan, and no, we can't leave the ENTIRE plan up to improvisations. And you've left out the most important thing! What would I do in this plan of yours?"

"About that…once I get in, I'd just send you messages on what's happening. I want you to stay out of their greedy hands. I can imagine what those bastards would do to you." Hidan grimaced as he remembered what kind of things went on while he was with them. For those that were 'interesting catches', the ones that held special rank or information, there was the physical torture and blood-letting within an inch of the prisoner's life, and then there was the never-ending mind rape session thanks to that rat-bastard Uchiha. "There's no way in hell that I'd let you get caught by them. If you get caught, the mission's over."

Sakura wanted to say more, to argue with him over this, but as she looked at him, the look on his face was a peculiar one. It was grim. He used that face whenever he talked about Jashinism or about killing Akatsuki. When he talked with that look, it meant that whatever he was talking about was something set in stone.

**I can't be left out like this! Dammit! I'm not going to play this mission's secretary! I have to be there with him!**

_No…it actually makes sense, even if we don't like it. I've been Lady Tsunade's left hand for the last few years…and I'm a medic. I can't get caught. Besides, even if I _did _confront any member of Akatsuki, what would I do? _

**BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF THEM OF COURSE!**

_I've only ever beaten Sasori of the Red Sand and doing that took all I had and this time, we're in Akatsuki's own territory. They have the home field advantage._

**I can't! I can't! I can't! Not on our mission. I can't stay behind.**

Sakura scowled and stood up slowly.

"…okay. Okay, Hidan, I'll stay out. But I'm going to stay somewhere nearby. I'm going to follow you into the city. I'll see when you get found by them and what happens."

Hidan looked at her solemnly. He didn't really have anything much to say. She was doing the very least possible, though he wanted her to be out of this mission completely, this was close enough.

"…I'm glad you're willing to do this."

"I said it earlier didn't I? This is the only plausible plan we have. I don't have any other choice." She shrugged. "Well then…let's discuss the details. Can you draw a map of the city?"

------------

An hour and several dirt maps later, the pair had a sketchy plan of action. Though they had left Konoha, it wasn't up until now that they felt as if their mission was truly beginning. It wasn't until now, that Sakura felt a cold sweat building up when she imagined what turmoil they would have to face on this S-ranked escapade.

They began to get ready.

Or at least, Sakura did. Hidan didn't have to do much more than walk in and make a bunch of noise; which was probably something that he could do during a drugged sleep.

Sakura had to go in not looking like herself. Not a kunoichi. And definitely not from Konoha.

And so…off came the kunai holster, the shuriken pouch, and medic apron.

Hidan watched her warily. As bit by bit, the kunoichi relieved herself of the things that marked as a shinobi. The sheer number of sharp, metal objects she had on her was unnerving. He would have never imagined her to have so many. She probably had more on herself then he did at the moment. He paced restlessly around her as she put her things into her pack.

Clink.

Clink.

Clink.

With every weapon dropped into the bag like valuable coins, Hidan became more and more fidgety, until, of course, he couldn't very well handle it.

"Hey, don't get rid of all your weapons! Jashin only knows worse things could happen then being caught as a shinobi! Here, put a kunai-"

Hidan's hand stopped where he reached as a kunai flew past his face out of nowhere. Bringing a hand up to his face, he found the thinnest streak of blood. Shocked, he looked up and found her to be smirking.

"Hidan, I'm not stupid to go anywhere without weapons."

"Oh…yeah…heh."

_Dammit! I'm such an idiot!_ He thought. Though it should have been obvious to him that her skills as a kunoichi would be topnotch, his own feelings of concern for her clouded his logic.

"Okay, I'm ready. How do I look?" She stood in a small patch of sunlight with her hands fisted on her hips, her chest puffed out, and an arrogant look on her face with an eyebrow raised scathingly. Her lower lip quivered as if threatening to betray her true feelings in which she felt ridiculous for posing in such a way.

"Uh….not as scary as you think. Seriously. But…" He squinted. Something glinting caught his eye.

"But what?" Her hands dropped once more, to her sides.

He came closer to her and reached around her with both hands. She began inching away as he loomed over her, his arms encircling her upper body.

"Hidan…what are you doing?" For he was still squinting like he was trying to see through her.

"I think…you forgot …hold still." He said distractedly, frowning. Sakura stood still, more so from her indecision and surprise then her ninja training; her arms itching to do something.

_Push him away! He's in our bubble! Too close! Too close!_ The sirens in her head wailed.

**Closer! Closer! Pull him to you! Give him a good, wet one! You won't be able to once you're inside that god-forsaken country!**

She took a deep breath through her nose. Discreetly sniffing him. She couldn't smell much aside from the clean scent of soap at first. A second sniff, and she found another scent lingering beneath the soap. Something distinctly masculine, but not unappealing. She longed to find out what it was.

**DO IT! Throw your arms around him!**

And then it was over in a second. Before she could do anything. He moved away, dangling something shiny in front of her face. She nearly gasped as she recognized it.

"Your headband." It was his turn to smirk. How on earth could she have forgotten to take off something that _glared_ 'I'm a kunoichi, don't tread on me'. Walking into the rain with that on her head would have been as good as wearing a set of cowbells to let everyone know who she was, exactly.

She glared at him as she quickly yanked it from his hand and stuffed it in her back in the same manner a girl would hide her under-things at the Laundromat's from strange men's eyes.

After gathering everything, she stomped. Leading the way to the sheets of rain that marked the border between safety and danger.

She stood before it and prepared mentally. The creep factor in knowing that the rain wasn't rain, but Pein….made her apprehensive of entering straight away. It felt like she was about to walk in naked. Completely exposed. Being constantly watched like an animal inside a cage. She shivered, not because of the cold.

Taking a breath, she slowly suppressed her chakra. Hiding it within her carefully. Burying it in layers so that even its seams wouldn't be detected by the most observant shinobi: the rain that fell and soaked every bit of her clothing, covering every inch of her body, leaving no thing hidden.

"I guess I'll be going in first." She bit her lip and looked at him, her eyes soft with a latent fear under the surface. "Hidan…"

**Do it! Now! Now! **

_Even if you _did _do anything embarrassing or un-shinobi-ish, I suppose you don't have to stick around to see what happens next…_

And so she did. She threw her arms around his neck, hugging him fiercely. Startled by her sudden affection, Hidan reflexively wrapped his arms around her. She buried her nose into his chest, inhaled deeply and found the smell. The one hidden under the soap. A combination of wood smoke from a comforting campfire and ....something sweet, like a confectionery shop. One small part of her mind belatedly tucked this odd information away to go over later.

"Be careful, okay? I don't want to find you in pieces next time, or else!" She spoke into his cloak, her voice muffled by the material. Then she quickly pecked his cheek and disappeared into the Rain.

Hidan slowly registered what just happened. He could still feel her warmth in his arms.

All of a sudden he gasped violently and clutched his head.

"Jashin-sama, help me! I can't believe I just let her go!"

_But no, I have to stick to the plan. Then we'll both be safe._ He thought.

Stoically, he sat down on a nearby rock to wait the allotted hour before entering after her. Though the set of his jaw was grim, his cheeks were slightly colored. He absently wondered if a bruise would form on his face on the place Sakura had kissed. The sheer force of her 'peck' was enough to knock the wind out of any normal man.

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**ending note:**

**So i pretty much ran out of ideas when it came to describing the way people smell. I'd like to stay away from the odiously over-done sandalwood and pine and musk and other 'manly' smells. I'm much better at describing food smells, so I went with that.**

**QUESTION: How would you describe your ideal guy with FOOD SMELLS? Girls can easily be alluded to chocolate and cakes and flowers, but what about men?  
**

PLEASE REVIEW AND ANSWER THE QUESTION!

....personally, I like Acgua di Gio cologne for men. It's a nice smell.


	6. Chapter 6

**L-O-L I'm sorry my chapters are getting shorter and shorter .**

**but I'll try to update more often :D**

**-i don't own the characters  
**

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**A Morbid Acuteness of the Sense**

**Chapter 6**

_When in Rain, do as the Rain-ans do?_

_._

_.  
_

As Sakura ran across the empty field of grass separating her from the main city of Rain, she kept her mind absolutely blank. She didn't want to think about how she was getting soaked from head to toe. She wanted to get out of the rain and under a roof as soon as possible, but if she dared to use her chakra now, everything would be ruined.

The sound of her feet squishing in the overgrown grasslands surrounding Rain was getting old.

Squish! Splash! Squish! Squash!

The repetitive rhythm matched the twitch of various parts of her body as they tried to convulse away from the mud in disgust. She let out a frustrated sigh. The condition of her feet and her shoes themselves was sure to be the worst. She wondered if she could somehow blame it all on Hidan and make him clean her shoes. Sakura snickered.

**That'd serve him right for not telling me everything sooner.**

A bit more sprinting and she began to see the village of Rain itself.

**Well, that didn't take as long as I thought it would.**

_Hidan's going to leave an hour after us, so if we get there too fast, we'll have to wait around a while._

Sakura dived under the first shelter she saw and began to methodically wring herself out. Hair. Shirt. Shorts.

She stared out at the road from under the cover of the tavern entrance. She had been traveling without chakra, but Hidan wouldn't, so even if he left an hour later, he'd get here faster then her. She had maybe half an hour tops, to rest a bit and then be on the lookout for him near the entrance to the city.

_I guess I'll only get to have a bite to eat, no way I can change and wash up now._

**Yeah, no kidding. All that running without chakra is making your stomach eat itself!**

_Okay, okay, I'm going…something smells good in there._

Now that she wasn't running and her blood stopped pumping fast, she realized how cold she was when wet. Shivering, she stepped inside, and as soon as she did, she breathed in a sigh of relief. Not only was there a flaming fireplace, there were others in the tavern, men, women, and children alike, who were soaked to the bone and looked like wet dogs, just like her.

For some reason, she had been worrying that she would seem stupid or suspicious for not using an umbrella in Rain, but it looks like she wasn't the only one. Quickly, she plopped down next to a young girl warming her hands and drying her hair near the hearth. A moment later, Sakura followed suit and sat there warming and drying until her hunger became more unbearable then her chill, and she was forced to order something to eat.

It was only after satiating her own needs did she finally and carefully have a look around to see exactly where she was. Quite honestly, where she was at the moment wasn't really a bad place. It seemed to be your average travelers' refuge. None of the patrons were eyeing her worriedly nor did any of them seem to have any charka, at least from what she could sense. There was always that possibility that someone could be hiding it the same way she was. It's also possible that if anything provoked the potential sedentary ninja, that would bust her cover and their own and that en total would be bad for everyone, especially the civilians, when kunai and shuriken would whistle past their heads. Therefore, her first instinct was to tread carefully and make sure she didn't look suspicious. Anyone could be a secret ninja. Unfortunately, Sakura figured that living cautiously in a bubble would get her nowhere, especially when she was hungry, tired, cold, and wet. So, she stuck to the theory that if she couldn't sense them, then they couldn't sense her either. Considering that everyone in their semi-drenched state and mud covered trousers looked like they were up to the same thing: getting dry and clean, she had nothing to worry about. Or so she hoped.

----

Hidan groaned, got up from the boulder he was perched on, and stretched his limbs. The stiffness in his neck from the night before was back. He frowned and grasped his rosary.

_Jashin-sama please forgive me. I'll sacrifice for you soon._

He had no idea who or when, but it had to happen. Sakura might hate him for it if she found out, but it was hard to explain without comparing himself to an animal. By that, he meant that he could say that it was survival of the fittest and only those who would do whatever it took to ensure their health and safety would, and should, live on; Sakura would compare that logic to the lives of animals. Where their survival was all instinct and reflex and no heart or compassion for each other's lives. He was also sure that if he said a word about animals falling in love and mating, she would whip out with a line on how it was all pheromones and that mating was also instinct and reflex because all animals had to procreate. Then she would probably hit him on the head and storm off to forget about the whole embarrassing conversation.

A smirk flitted across his lips and he shook his head sagely at no one in particular (since he _was_ all alone at the edge of the woods), thinking that he sure knew Sakura's thought patterns well.

Too bad she couldn't understand him and where he was coming from. Serving Jashin was more then a religion, it was a way of life. His very being existed only to serve his lord. Heck, he probably wouldn't have been alive in that hellhole for two years if it wasn't for Jashin-sama's blessings. So really, it'd be hell, literally, if he let a girl get in the way of his servitude.

Hidan groaned again. This time at himself. At his stupidity. At his naivety. Thinking about Sakura and the regard he held her in, he hadn't realized until now how he had been acting recently. He'd been a total pansy! Did he have no self-respect left? Okay, so Hidan was somewhat a chauvinist, and he didn't dare impose that on a woman like her, but that didn't mean that he had to fret over every single thing she did or didn't like, right?

Yes, he loved that woman and he wanted them to have a good relationship with each other, but really! And then there was the issue of his feelings. Men were not supposed to do that. He couldn't believe how close he had come to admitting his true feelings to her first.

He felt that he was slowly losing his original self. The person that the Akatsuki knew. If he went to them now and acted like the way he did around Sakura (AKA: A Pansy), then they would surely get suspicious of him.

"Oh man. Jashin-sama, have I really changed that much?"

Hidan got up and affixed his scythe onto his back.

"Well…here goes nothing. Jashin-sama I ask for your protection. Help me kick those Akatsuki bastards' asses. I'll send them to hell." Then he was off, his head tucked down and his plain, dark cloak pulled around him, he ran full speed into Rain. From a distance, he must have looked like a black demon speeding across the marsh-like land with the blades on his back glinting menacingly.

-------

Sakura managed to procure an umbrella from the tavern keeper. It was difficult though. She had to assure the shrew woman several times that she would be right outside the building and that she would bring it back. In the end, she got it, but the woman made her leave a deposit at the bar.

Sakura heaved a sigh and put on a plastic smile as she hefted her pack of belongings onto the serving bar. The woman frowned, grabbed the thing, and put it somewhere behind the bar.

Exiting the tavern, she opened up the umbrella. Or at least, tried to. The slider was jammed and she had to fiddle with the darned device a few times to get it to pop open, and once it did, she wasn't surprised by it's condition in the least. The thing was exactly as shabby as she had come to assume it would be. There were a few patches on it too. Why, in god's name, did that woman want it anymore? It would have been smarter to just let Sakura buy the old umbrella from her so she could go buy a new one.

_Whatever. At least it works._

**I think I'll get wetter **_**because**_** of this….**

Sakura held it above her as she walked out from under the tavern's entryway. The rain immediately pelted it like bullets. She adjusted her grip on the handle and walked towards the side of the building. The ground beneath her feet was cobbled and there was some form of a water drainage system which she hadn't noticed before. There were long trenches of various sizes running through the street. Similar to aqueducts, they carried the perpetually falling water away from the streets. Looking up at the array of buildings rising above her, she couldn't tell where the water might be carried. Hidan had said that there were several canals running through the city so the water was probably all carried there.

Coming back to her immediate surroundings, she scanned the street up and down, searching for some way with which she could climb onto the roof. Normally she'd just kick off the ground or walk up the side of the building, but both those methods required chakra and that was a big NO-NO. She spotted a few garbage cans haplessly leaning against the side of the building. Their metal lids had long been discarded to the side because of inevitable rusting. She came closer and peeked into them.

"Huh. So that's what they do here."

Turns out that all the trashcans were turned upside down. Their smooth bottom faced the sky and that way, they didn't end up getting filled with water while empty.

Grinning because her task seemed a little less complicated now, she climbed atop the trash can, careful not to lose her footing on the slick surface. Then she adjusted the umbrella and stared up at the edge of the roof.

"Oh, boy."

Any points that Rain might have gotten for having the trash cans upturned for her were now lost. Riveted sheets of metal jutted over the roof in varying shades of gray. Between each ripple of metal, water cascaded down like hundreds of tiny waterfalls.

"Why do I get the feeling that my job is more difficult then Hidan's? It shouldn't be this hard to get up there!" She grumbled to herself and dropped off the trashcan and walked back to the front of the tavern.

_Now what? I needed to get up there so that I'd be able to see when Hidan comes past. _

The city was full of streets and bridges, criss-crossing over and under each other, sometimes winding around unplanned edifices or acting as detours whenever one path was blocked. In the area Sakura was in, she could see several cobbled paths weaving in between the several buildings that the tavern was surrounded by.

She sighed and leaned under the tavern's ledge, against the wall. The ledge on this side of the building was wide enough that she could stand comfortably without getting wet for a change. But it was eerie in a way. In front of her was a wall of grayish water cutting her off from view of the streets, behind her was the wall of the tavern, its stones worn smooth and even over the years. Tired of holding the umbrella, she pulled it closed and let it lean on the wall next to her.

**So this is how it's going to go, huh?**

_I don't have much of a choice. It's all this stupid rain's fault. If it wasn't for it, then everything wouldn't be wet and I'd be able to climb wherever I need to._

**If it weren't for this rain, I wouldn't have to hide my chakra!**

Sakura growled in frustration and kicked at the wall of water in front her. The water simply gave way and her foot when straight through, collecting more water then it would have otherwise. She huffed angrily, stomping the excess water out of her shoe.

There's no way she'd be able to see Hidan and follow him without having a bird's eye view from somewhere above which she was hoping to have by waiting on the roof. Now the only way she'd find Hidan was if her were to send out flairs of his chakra, then maybe she would be able to home in on him. But would he even _think _about doing that?

**Oh, for god's sake! This is even more hopeless then I imagined!**

She grabbed the umbrella and went back inside the tavern. The tavern lady looked at her scathingly as she approached the bar. Sakura slide the umbrella across the bar, in return, the lady gave her back her pack. She took a moment to consider her position.

_I'm an outsider, in a foreign city, in enemy territory. I'm already making enemies with the civilians?_

Grudgingly, Sakura left the bar with a polite nod and "Thanks."

Who knows, she might even have to go there again so it wouldn't hurt to have at least one semi-acquaintance. She returned to leaning against the tavern wall outside and impatiently waited for something, anything to happen. It seems that the plan was falling apart even before it started.

-------

Hidan thought about what he had to do to seem like himself again.

_Kakuzu_ _would know. Too bad he isn't here anymore._

He wandered through the streets, the rain not bothering him in the least since it simply slid over his cloak but never under it. His hair was wet though. It was hanging limply around his face, some locks were obscuring his vision. He frowned and smoothed them back. Everything pretty much looked the same to him, except maybe a little more rusted here and there.

It wasn't even close to lunch time yet, it was only mid-morning. There were a few people out and about in the street conducting business and whatnot. They didn't take notice of him until he passed right by them and they backed away immediately. He grinned at them evilly, rather satisfied at the attention he was receiving. It was pretty obvious when they finally saw the menacing scythe on his back because then the cautious backing away would turn into a 'Hide your face and run away!' But that was to be expected, he supposed. The rain made it harder to notice things because it tended to make distant things look blurry.

He tsk-ed and glanced around at the nearest buildings. He wondered what Sakura was up to. She had told him not to worry about her because she'd find him. All he had to do was somehow make his presence known to the Akatsuki, but that shouldn't have been too hard. From the moment he had entered Rain, Pein already knew he was back. It was only a matter of being contacted.

So really, he had nothing more to do but wait around and search the city. Maybe if he caused chaos and pandemonium in Rain…

"Jashin-sama!" he shouted into the celestials as he swung his scythe off his back, "I'll claim every victory today for you!" He pounded the butt of his scythe into the ground by his feet before sweeping it up before him in an arc and driving the blades into the ground with enough force that it caused the ground in the immediate vicinity to tremble. Some of the cobblestones around the blades had even turned up. And then he began racing through town.

Oh yeah. That definitely got everyone's attention.

A few meters away, Sakura had not only heard the familiar obnoxious voice, but had even felt the rumble in the ground. Startled by Hidan's outburst, she stumbled to her feet cursing under her breath.

**What the heck is that idiot doing now?!**

_This isn't the sign I was asking for!!_

**We'll never reach him fast enough to shut him up!**

Sakura ran towards the sound of ruckus where civilians were now openly running-and-screaming away from. Among the screams there were also terrified bouts of,

"HELP!"

"Monster!" and "Devil!" as well as the occasional,

"It's the Grim! He's come to get us!"

Sakura grit her teeth and stomped her way through the throngs.

**Does he not know what SUBTLE means?!!**

_That tactless buffoon. He deserves whatever is coming for him._

In this case, it was Sakura that was coming for him, and little did he know it. Sakura could already see the blades of his scythe haplessly cutting through the perpetual rain, but before she could reach him, he laughed, yelled something about Jashin, and ran in another direction without seeing her.

She stopped and stood still in the middle of the street. Panting and wheezing, completely out of breath and irrevocably irritated with her mission partner. The rain did nothing to cool her temper down. She watched as he quickly shrunk from her sight and began to meld into the shadows of the city itself. She narrowed her eyes, trying to see through the rain and saw what she needed to see.

He was heading towards a taller cluster of buildings in the distance, it seemed.

She smirked, inhaled, and then ran towards the closest building. A squat little shop with its doors and windows firmly shut against the recent Hidan menace. She got under its tin awnings and paused to adjust her backpack. One thing that she had learned in the first few minutes of this wild goose chase was that nearly every building, and every floor of multiple story buildings, had a ledge or awning that extended out to protect it from rain. If she ran under those the entire time, then she wouldn't have to get wet, but what was even better was that Pein with his rain wouldn't notice anybody following after Hidan.

And so, she ran towards the buildings Hidan was headed, nimbly following him from the shadows.

* * *

**Please leave a REVIEW! I really do read all of them! And sometimes I reply too! You should check your email that you registered with to see them.**

**Aren't you excited? This story is finally moving forward. I'll try to update moar.**

Random: The other day, i washed my car on the driveway while standing next to a HUGE pile of snow. This weather is so weird.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey, I was trying to get this uploaded asap so I didn't have Neonn beta it this time.**

**Please forgive me for any grammatical errors or syntax inconsistencies in this chapter.**

**Oh and leave a review Plz (^____^)  
**

* * *

**A Morbid Acuteness of the Senses**

**Chapter 7**

_Sightseeing is not for the weak._

_._

_.  
_

Hidan hopped from place to place, appearing and reappearing yards ahead every few seconds. He dragged his scythe on the ground behind him, letting it cut through and snag on whatever came his way. Any idiot would be able to blindly follow Hidan's destructive path. Sakura didn't even need to try figuring out where he was, it was so easy to simply see. He was still beyond her vision, but she could hear the steel of his scythe as it grated against stone here and there.

Sakura was hoping that he'd slow down or stop somewhere so she would be able to catch up to him. This really was not part of the plan. This whole chase wasn't…well actually it was somewhat part of the plan. But she was supposed to follow him while he found his way around the city _inconspicuously_. Not like the one-man parade from hell. He should have already gotten Pein's attention by stepping into the rain without hiding his chakra.

It was so frustrating. She wished she could just stomp her foot into the ground or throw something at him hard enough to knock him into a building.

She leaned against the wall of the latest building to catch her breath. Looking around, she noticed that it was painted completely black.

**Suspicious….**

Deciding that this deserved an investigation, and that she needed a change from the monotony of chasing Hidan, she stalked around to the other side of the building in search of an entrance. Seeing no windows whatsoever, she wondered what exactly was going on with this building.

The lack of windows made her want to see inside even more.

**OMG! What if I'm on to something here?!**

Her pulse started to race from not only the danger, but also the excitement. Heck, maybe she'd even find the entrance to Akatsuki before Hidan got the invitation.

**Yes! I'll show him I don't need to stay behind!**

Perhaps there was a hidden edge or a barrier keeping the entrance hidden. Maybe it was even genjutsu. She had to find out. Feeling all pumped up and out to prove that she didn't need to be left out of anything, she began to avidly search the walls themselves.

She felt rather self conscious for checking out a building in the middle of the street. It was almost as if she were doing something wrong by inspecting the building in full public display. She kept looking over her shoulder thinking that there might be a civilian watching, but thankfully there was not such thing. In fact, everywhere Hidan had passed through was devoid of human life for a few blocks around.

On the wall facing the back alley, next to rusting pile of junk, Sakura finally found something interesting. In some places, the bricks were slightly raised and the black paint had rubbed off a bit to expose the reddish brown stone. She ran her hands over it, tracing out a rectangular shape.

Her excitement rose and she giggled quietly.

**I found it! I found something!**

_Are you sure that this is Akatsuki? The door was pretty easy to find…_

**Well, this IS their hometown, they probably don't invest as much in securing the place. The **_**rain**_** is probably enough.**

_Okay, soooo what if this really is the entrance to Akatsuki's layer? I can't do anything in there by myself!_

**Relax! We'll just snoop around and be back out before they know it!**

_Don't underestimate them! You might get caught!_

**I've beaten them before and besides, I'm going to use all my energy for escaping, I won't try any offense.**

_Even if you get away, if the fact that you're here in Rain is found out, that'll probably ruin the entire plan!_

**Maybe we won't **_**need**_** the plan after this!**

But Sakura's level-headed self had a point. If she were found, it could mess up the whole plan that she and Hidan had worked out.

_And what about him? _

They might come together to overpower him and he could get hurt. Or worse, they could overpower _her_ and Hidan would have no idea what happened to her, maybe he'd get caught looking for her and then Akatsuki would have both of them and the mission would fail.

Sakura bit her lip in consternation over the dilemma, but didn't remove her hands from the wall. What to do, what to do? She could really be on to something here, if she left it alone, what would happen? She might never get the chance to see inside until it was too late and she was probably being tossed after being bound and gagged by Akatsuki.

Frowning, she dug her fingers around the raised edges, getting a good grip on them and began wiggling the 'door' from side to side.

**Hidan's out there, right now, doing his part to get all the attention.** **I'm going to find out about this place and I'll prove that I can do something besides keep watch from the sidelines.**

Sakura had the dreaded bloated ego for some reason. She had made up her mind to do what she wanted over what was logical. And she still couldn't figure out how to get the darn thing open. She struggled a little more, pulling and pushing as hard as she could. It was so frustrating without chakra. A few more minutes and she finally gave in, kicking the door in anger before stepping back to glare at it.

She couldn't hear Hidan in the distance anymore. He must have moved on. All the effort she put into trying to catch up to him so far had gone to waste just because of this. It was all her fault for not doing the logical thing. In a huff, she kicked the door again and grudgingly began to walk away in Hidan's direction once more.

Before she even got a yard away, the door began to rumble. She nearly jumped out of her skin and moved into a position where she could view the door and escape quickly if necessary. She didn't have to wait long before it painfully slid in on itself and moved aside. She was frozen in place like a deer in headlights. She should have bolted away as soon as she heard the door move. There was a moment of shocked silence as she stared at it in awe.

**OMG! What's happening?! It's Akatsuki! They'll find me!**

_If I get bound and gagged and tortured now, I totally deserve it for being stupid. Stupid Stupid Stupid. This was such a stupid idea!_

**I know!**

She waited for something to happen. For kunai to shoot out. For shuriken to come flying. For wires to whip around her and strangle her.

Slowly a head peeked out and looked about. It wore a cap and she could see glasses affixed underneath the bill. Short, orange hair curled out from under the cap, over the pale ears and neck.

"Huh? Nobody out here? I thought I heard someone…OH!" He finally saw Sakura, still frozen in place. This time because confusion rather then awe or fright. That head did not look like it belonged to anything even slightly akatsuki related. "Did you want to come inside?"

"Uhh…y-yeah." Sakura straightened herself from her defensive position. She must have looked like a fool. The blood that was supposed to rush away from her head now that she was out of Fight-or-Flight mode just pooled in her face because of her embarrassment.

The boy stepped out and laughed at her flush.

"No need to by shy. Come on, it's okay. We're all friends in here." He extended a hand, beckoning her inside.

"Uh….I'm not sure if I-"

"Are you new? I'll explain everything inside. Don't stand out in the rain like that."

He ushered her in. A reprieve from the rain sounded like a good idea, no matter who it was coming from. He stood in the doorway with a cheesy smile on his face. She sensed no chakra from him. He was harmless. As she walked passed him, she noticed that he was stooping to fit in the low ceiling-ed passage.

"This way." He led her down into the dimly lit abyss. She could see colorful posters on all along the passage walls. She had no idea where the guy was taking her, or more importantly, why in the world she was following him.

Maybe it was side effect of being scared shitless a moment earlier that she became as pliable as dough, easily following a random, smiling stranger like a puppy on a leash.

**Dammit, what is this place?**

_It's dry is what it is._

**I want to leave. I still have to find that idiot partner of mine.**

_If I say I don't know what this place is or why I'm here, then he'll probably suspect me for something._

Inner Sakura sighed and followed quietly, observing the ceiling and walls as she went. A moment later, they reached a door and the mysterious kid with glasses knocked on it in a ridiculously fancy rhythm. Not a second too soon, a large man opened the door. He was as tall and wide as the doorframe. He wore a bland look on his face. With a grunt, he stepped aside and let them pass.

As soon as Sakura walked in, she was blasted by music and colorful lights flashing everywhere. She was momentarily knocked both deaf and blind, which didn't help her original dumbstruck look any either.

**I. Can't. Believe. It.**

_This place is just an underground club! _

There was an entire string of unkind words running through her head. She felt very foolish.

Hidan sat on the head of a stone gargoyle with his scythe put away. He was perched a few stories above the ground and could easily see cobbled streets. The view was exactly like looking at a map.

He was waiting for Sakura to find him. Didn't she say she'd cover it? He estimated that he'd been in this city for at least six hours and still hadn't seen hair or hide of her. And her hair wasn't hard to miss.

He looked up at the sky somewhat worried about her. It was dull, gray, and the clouds perpetually morphing into new cloud-like shapes. There was no way to see the sun and maybe get a sense of the time of day, but he guessed that there were only a few more hours before dark. If Sakura didn't contact him before then, then he'd have to start looking for her. And if there was one thing he was positive of, he was sure that once he started looking for her, it would catch Pein's attention a lot more then necessary.

He wondered if Sakura had heard him ring the proverbial doorbell. He tried to make as much of a ruckus as possible without tiring himself out too much, so by now, word should have gotten around that there was a demonic psychotic jashinist on the loose in the city. Sakura ought to be able to trace him through the grapevine, which was, ironically, the only thing Pein wouldn't be able to trace.

He was actually quite worried about her. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to do his part of the mission if he couldn't rest assured that she was alright and where she wanted to be.

_Jashin damn it!_

He hated that about himself. About his profound attachment to another human being. It only served to make him weaker now, and that was the one thing he couldn't afford.

_Focus, Hidan. You're on a mission. A really fucking important mission. They send more then one person on missions like this just to make sure that they get done. Seriously, if one of you dies, the other will still have to complete it. So quit worrying about her and do your part in this._

Hidan's self pep-talk wasn't working very well. He could lie to himself all he wanted in his head, but his heart would still stay concerned for someone other then himself. It was obvious that he wouldn't be able to drive her from his thoughts completely, but maybe, just maybe, he could pretend that she must be somewhere safer if she was away from him. Then at least, that way he would be able to do his mission with some peace of mind.

He grasped his rosary and brought it to his lips. He prayed for Sakura's protection. Abruptly a thought struck him and he looked down at his pendant.

_Dammit! I should have given this to her! I'm such a moron!_

Squeezing the pendent in his palm, he realized that if he had done such a thing, it might ruin his act later.

Gritting his teeth, he slowly stood up atop the gargoyle. He winced slightly at the stiffness of his muscles.

_Great. Just great._ He thought. His problems simply kept growing and growing.

Sakura emerged from the underground club in a daze. After talking to the party-ers in the midst of music, smoke, and unearthly flashing lights; the dull, rainy afternoon seemed a relief. She found that she didn't mind the rain as much anymore either. Especially since she'd stolen some mad raver's raincoat.

Heaving a sigh of blissful relief at her dry state of being, she looked around to get her bearings.

**Noooooo! I still have to find Hidan!**

_And I'm not any closer to him than before! In fact, it might just be the opposite!_

**I can't even hear him anymore! Nor do I hear the frantic screams of the citizens of Rain!**

_**Crap!**_

She squinted at her original destination. It was harder to see long distance through the rain because it was slowly getting darker. The cluster of high rises still looked to be a good two hours' walk away. She felt like ripping her legs off.

**Why was it that **_**I**_** have to look for him again?**

_Because he can't be caught searching for someone else._

**But can't he just randomly look for someone he may just feel like harassing? Maybe Pein'll think Hidan's in the mood to look for a sacrifice and looking for some poor idiotic soul.**

_Hmm....you have a point there......_

_**HIDAN YOU JERK YOU BETTER GET OUT HERE AND START LOOKING FOR ME!**_

____________

_I need to find a poor idiotic soul, dammit. Jashin-sama's calling is becoming harder to bear._

Hidan languidly made his way down from the second story gargoyle. Something in his back popped.

_Fuck._

He tightened his hands into fists. And leapt off the building quickly. He knew he was going to be possibly hated by Sakura, but he figured he had a better chance of being _anything_ to Sakura if he was still alive. This meant that he would do what she would despise the most. He had to be on top of his game just in case something with his first meeting with Akatsuki went wrong. He needed to find a sacrifice soon, and what better place to look, he thought morbidly. A few blocks away began the rusted, dirty slums of Rain.

There were a lot more sewers here and many of them were open to the sky, functioning as gutters as they wound their way between tiny houses, apartment complexes, and questionable-looking stores that advertised questionable-looking wares to some very questionable-looking citizens of Rain.

Was this really one of the great hidden ninja villages of the world? When he thought of a hidden village, he usually thought of Konoha or Suna. At least they looked like they were being governed by some higher power and could possibly house some very fine assassins, but this place looked like crap.

_This says a lot about fucking Mr. I-Am-God_. _Nothing here speaks of divinity as far as I can see. More like the devil came and took a dump._

Hidan was positive that he would find someone that deserved to be punished here. Asking to get a hold of someone who's in the slammer for first degree murder might be pushing it, but if Hidan broadened his search to manslaughter or just rape, he was bound to find someone soon.

---------

Sakura reached the first of the skyscrapers and braced herself on her knees as she took in deep breaths. She shut her eyes and her thoughts to the rain and pulled the hood of her raincoat back to let the cool water trickle down her face and neck.

**Oh god! This stupid thing is so frickin' hot!**

_It's rubber. Did you expect to be able to cool down while wearing this?_

**Well I did expect to stay dry! Now my clothes are soaked with sweat instead of rain! Gah!**

_Raincoats aren't meant to be worn during rigorous exercise._

She huffed and stood straight to have a look at the building. It was made of stone, but here and there sheets of serrated metal covered the walls and tiny windows were cut into them. It was a couple stories high with crude gargoyles marking each corner of every floor. Unlike most stone watchmen of the night, these gargoyles had jaws wide open towards the sky. It almost looked like they were drinking the rain.

Sakura shuddered.

**What a creepy-ass building. Even by Rain's standards.**

_It doesn't even look like anyone lives here._

**Then there's no need to hang around.**

Sakura was about to leave and go check out the next building when she noticed something even more strange. On the other side of the building, one of the gargoyle's heads had been lobbed off and was now lying on the street in pieces. Looking up, she saw that it must have belonged to the one on the second floor. She could somewhat make out the headless form of a stone body on the corner facing the eastern part of the city.

Looking in that direction, Sakura grimaced. She couldn't make out anything that lay in that direction beyond the immediate houses and storefronts.

She fisted and unfisted her hands loosely. She wanted to see what was over there. She looked up at the building and suppressed another shudder. She didn't want to climb that building.

She bit her lip in consternation and after a few minutes of silent debate, her curiosity won over the icky feeling she got when she approached the building and she found herself eyeing for a way to climb up. There weren't any trash bins or crates lying around this time, but there was still a good foot or maybe more of an overhang that channeled water away and into the drains in the ground. This was good. At least the water wasn't going to drown her for trying to climb the edifice. That is if she could ever find a place to start climbing from.

The water not rushing at her made the process of looking for raised bricks and ledges in the wall a lot easier though, so it wasn't that difficult to find a way up past the first floor. One foot here, one hand there, and a bit of hefting herself over a slippery ledge, she made it to the top of the first overhang in one piece.

**This wasn't so hard.**

Sakura stared at her hands. Her hands looked like they did back in her childhood when she used to search for rocks in the river on lazy summer afternoons. –_Wait a minute, did I ever search for rocks in the river?_

**No, I don't think so. But if I did, that's what my hands would look like.**

_I can't believe I actually did this. I climbed a building without chakra._

**Hell yeah! I'm a kunoichi! I can do anything, I don't need my chakra!**

Of course Sakura was only lying to herself. She hated not being able to use her chakra and she hated having to run in the rain and having to scale a frickin' building and even getting her hands and feet all nasty, pruny, and dirty because of her not using her chakra. This was just one of those ways she mentally pepped herself up.

She heaved a sigh and made her way to the next ledge.

* * *

**Is that a cliffhanger? I'm sorry, I didn't know. XD  
**

**But did i not say that I would be uploading chapters sooner? I'm rather proud of myself. It's two weeks sooner then normal.**

**REVIEW PLEASE :D**

**they make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside hahaha.**

**QUESTION: Do you want me to draw Rain as I see it in this story? I know it's kind of hard to picture, i'm trying my best with the architectural descriptions. I could draw it and post a link .  
**


	8. Chapter 8

_A Morbid Acuteness of the Senses_

_Chapter 8_

**The Rusted Roof**

Sakura had been following traces of Hidan's chakra for the longest time. Just a second ago, it had gotten immensely strong and disappeared. She couldn't sense him at all.

Inner Sakura began cursing furiously because she was incredibly tired. She was literally washed out from a day of hapless tail-gating. She just wanted to open her mouth and scream into the dark sky at the top of her lungs.

_No, no Sakura. You can't do that! You'll lose your cover!_

**But he'll hear me and then we can finally get somewhere!**

_You can't run anywhere once Pein notices you!_

**It doesn't matter! At least I know that idiot Hidan will hear me! **

_You can't! Just calm down! Take a break! Find somewhere to sleep and search again tomorrow!_

**No way! I finally caught his trail, if I stop now then it's all over!**

Sakura massaged her temples tiredly and wiped some rain from her brow. She took a deep breath and tried to exhale slowly.

_We'll lose him, but...what if, that's what he's trying to do?_

**No fawcking way! He wouldn't do that! That freak knows I'd be the one to kill him then. Figuratively speaking.**

_But remember? He didn't really want us to go together. What if this is all part of his plan to keep us out of the way?!_

At this point, while trying to calm down and breath slowly, Sakura started to breath faster as she got angrier and angrier with her 'partner'.

_-------_

Hidan spied someone skittering around below him. It was dark, so he couldn't tell who it was. The person was breathing fast and leaned heavily against the wall that Hidan was sitting on.

Hidan looked around to see if anyone was chasing the guy, not finding anyone, he decided to have a little fun. Hopping down from the top of the wall, he landed a few yards away from the huffing individual. The swish from his cloak caused the other person to freeze like a spooked rabbit. Not a whisper of the earlier gasps for breath could be heard.

He hated to do this, but it couldn't be helped. It was a do or die situation and for Pein's attention, he had to put on a show. And a bloody one at that.

With a wicked grin spread across his face, Hidan approached his first victim in Rain.

He raised his scythe high and released all of his chakra as he brought the scythe down.

But the person had vanished.

--------

It was like being transported underwater. The pressure of his chakra was immense and Sakura felt it immediately behind her.

Fueled by her recent chain of thought, it was merely a matter of reflexes by which she had him pinned to the ground face down with a kunai pressed to the back of his neck.

"Just what the hell were you trying to do?!"

Hidan, who hadn't realized it was Sakura because she had kept her chakra hidden, groaned and cursed into the ground when he heard her voice. He hadn't thought that is was actually _her_ coming after him.

_Jashin-sama this is the worst person possible to for me try and sacrifice. Fuck._

Hidan turned his face to one side so that he could speak clearly. She still had his head held down.

"What do you think I was doing?! I was trying to attack you!"

"What!? Why?! And why didn't you wait at the tavern? Are you avoiding me?!"

"How the hell would I know it was YOU down here? Did you forget you're hidden?"

Sakura had completely forgotten that part. She fell aback.

"Oh...but you didn't-"

"Look, could you do me a favor and get off of me? You might be having fun up there but this sort of stuff isn't supposed to be seen in public."

Sakura wrinkled her nose in annoyance and got off of him. As soon as the force was gone, Hidan took a deep breath and stood up, brushing some of the street grim from his cloak in the process. After picking up his scythe as well, he glanced at Sakura standing before him. Or at least it was supposed to be her under a dripping rain coat and dark hood. The only thing he could recognize was the rather angry, thin line her lips were set in.

_Jashin-sama, this might be the most dangerous part of this mission._

Hidan placed his scythe on his back and lunged at Sakura. She yelped and beat against his back as he slung her across it and leaped away from the place quickly explaining,

"I'm taking us somewhere safe so we can talk. Yell at me once we get there."

------

Hidan set Sakura down near a patched up building several stories high. Then he grabbed her hand and pulled her along as they entered through a heavy wooden door.

It turned out to be another tavern. Though it was shabby, it was surprisingly well lit and there were only a handful of people around and all of them were sitting either at the bar or at a table by themselves. Sakura scrutinized each and every one of them with her eyes as she followed Hidan.

Hidan went to a table all the way in the back and sat down, indicating that Sakura should too. She opened her mouth as soon as she sat down but Hidan cut her off,

"Ok, before you say anything, I'm not trying to avoid you. I waited at this place but you didn't show up so I left because I knew you'd find me eventually with all the noise I was making...I just didn't expect you to find me tonight." It was a rushed speech, Hidan finally inhaled and waited anxiously for his partner's reaction.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Fat drops of water rolled off of both their bodies and hit the floor. Sakura pulled her hood back and glanced quickly at entire place.

"So...this was the tavern we were supposed to meet up in?"

Hidan furrowed his brow,

"You went somewhere else?"

"I waited at that travelers' lodge near the entrance to the city, Mr. It's-the-one-with-a-rusty-roof."

Hidan slapped his forehead, this explained why he didn't see her and why she didn't see him. They had been in different buildings. But something was strange about this new building.

"Then while you were there, did you see anyone suspicious?"

"No. They were all soggy travelers, like me. Why?"

"Did you have this raincoat on the whole time?"

"No, I took this from some kid in an underground club. Hidan, why are you asking all these questions?"

Hidan's grim expression broke for a second,

"A club? What were you doing in a club? And an underground one?"

"Urgh! Hidan, the only thing I've been doing all day is looking for you, so answer my questions for once!"

Hidan jerked back and held a hand up, _crap! I have to keep her calm._

"S-Sorry, okay, just one more thing! So you didn't have that raincoat on, that means people could see your hair and face...then somebody could have recognized you! Dammit! Think back! Are you sure nobody there was acting weird?"

"Hidan, what are you trying to get at? Tell me so I know!" Sakura slapped her hand against the table.

Hidan stood up stiffly and pulled her up as well.

"Upstairs, I got us a room earlier today. Jashin dammit, this is bad."

It took them a few minutes as they squeezed through a narrow stairwell and zig-zagged up to what seemed the third or fourth floor. At the end of the hall, Hidan unlocked a room and pulled Sakura in behind him into the dark room.

"W-What is it?" Sakura asked in between breaths. Already exhausted from the day's traipsing around, racing up three stories was probably nearing the end of her limit.

Hidan grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her against the back of the door. She couldn't see his face but could sense that he was close. His breath was coming quietly, but quickly.

"That traveler's lodge wasn't there before. It's a new building."

"Are you sure? Maybe you forgot that it was there?"

"There's no way I would forget. It's by one of the entrances to Rain. I passed through there all the time, and I know for certain that there hasn't been any other place for travelers besides this one."

Sakura thought back to when she first entered Rain and all the details about the lodge. Then it dawned on her.

"But that's impossible. It's got a rusted roof!"

"My point exactly." Hidan moved away from her, in the faint light coming from the small window behind him, she could see his silhouette. He was running his fingers through his hair again.

"Then there might be a clue there to finding the Akatsuki headquarters."

"Jashin-sama help me find those bastards...there's a light switch by the door. You can turn it on when I get the window sealed, we can't let anyone know we're here."

"Okay, you think somebody might have already found out?" Sakura deftly located the light switch on the wall, once she couldn't see the faint light from the window, she hit the switch and the lights flickered on. In the dim yellow light from the lone light bulb hanging from the ceiling, she saw that the room was nothing more then a lumpy mattress on the floor. It would have been like a jail cell save for the fact that it had a separate bathroom.

Hidan tossed his scythe in a corner and tore off his cloak. He sat down heavily on the mattress, his long legs sprawling in front of him.

"Tell me everything you saw in that lodge."

Sakura slid out of her raincoat and tossed her bag in the corner as well. She slicked the wet hair away from her face and took a breath,

"When I got in there I saw..."

* * *

**Sorry peoples, I'll try to update whenever I can, I'm really busy, I have a lot of summer projects.**

**Thanks for reading this long. Peace!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A Morbid Acuteness of the Senses**

**Chapter 9**

"Sir...there seems to be a disturbance in the eastern district, what shall I do about it?" A curt, low voice erupted from the shadows in a corner where a pair of yellow orbs glowed.

"You're late in noting it. The disturbance arrived hours ago." Standing near a window and grimly peeking out at the world, the one who replied was even harder to hear, as he had a voice that was a half-whisper, half-threat, but all commanding none-the-less.

"_Do you want me to ea-eliminate it?_" The glowing eyes rasped before returning to their formal tone.

"Do you already know what it is?"

"...hmm....yes, you could say it is a surprisingly_ familiar _disturbance."

"Are they nin? Konoha nin?" There was an eagerness to know the answer in that voice. The same sort of eagerness one has when awaiting an expensive dish to be unveiled by the server at a fancy french restaurant.

"No, Zetsu, do not do anything. Do your regular duties and await my orders."

"_Are you sure?_"

Thwack! A paper senbon embedded itself into the wall where Zetsu's head had been only a half-second before.

"Leave, now." This time a woman's voice. Her voice was as sharp as the paper she conjured with and left no room for argument.

Zetsu glared at the blue haired woman before disappearing back into the wall and returning to the outside world once more. She waited a second to make sure the spy was gone before heaving a sigh and turning to her partner.

"Pein, who is it? Who's come back?" The sharpness from earlier had dissolved, now she was talking to an equal, no, someone more then her equal, someone who was doubtless more formidable then her.

Pein smirked and looked down, out of the dark window,

"Someone who's finally making me believe that he really is immortal."

-------

**Oye! What have you gotten into now?!**

_This has been happening so much, I ought to be used to it by now!_

**What are you talking about? _This_ has never happened before! **

_No, no, of course it has! Ahahah! Remember at that granny's house the night before?And what about that one time on Kakashi's birthday...._

**There's a big difference. Why are you in your birthday suit? Him as well?! Are you crazy?**

_You're right, I must be crazy...I can't sleep like this!_

Sakura pulled all of the blankets around her, successfully turning herself into a cocoon. Try as she might she was positive that she wouldn't get a wink of sleep.

She heard a groan from behind her as Hidan shifted around in his sleep, one hand grappling haphazardly for some of the stolen blankets.

Sakura had no idea how he could truly be asleep in a situation like this. It was as if he had been knocked out. This may have been because he had gotten extremely tired or …because she knocked him on the head harder then she thought as they were stripping out of their wet clothes and getting ready for the night.

**Oh God!!! What is that?!**

Sakura fought the urge to squeal as she felt Hidan's hand finally reach one of her many layers of blankets.

The hand moved over the cocoon trying to find the blanket's edge. After a moment of blindly searching, it stopped.

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief.

_That was close. I wonder what would happen if he actually-_

Hidan, who was still sleeping, had suddenly, actively begun searching for more blankets. Sakura bit down on the blanket so that she wouldn't scream. He grunted slightly before simply grabbing Sakura and her cocoon and flipping her over. At this point, he'd finally found an edge of the blanket and he tugged on it harshly. Sakura remained frozen stiff with her hands over her mouth as she was unraveled.

She had her eyes squeezed tightly shut. She wanted to zone herself out of this embarrassing reality.

Hidan continued to wiggle about for another minute until he had finally gotten most of the covers back again as well wrapping himself around Sakura. It was at this point that Sakura panicked and turned around to swat at Hidan's head when she felt something odd. A huge lump on the side of his head. That explained how he was sleeping so deeply.

_**Oops...**_

It was at this point that she pretended to be elsewhere, refusing to even acknowledge what was happening now, even if at some point in her life, she might have secretly wanted it. Trying to blank out her mind, Sakura finally fell asleep.

It was all her fault anyway.

---------

Hidan woke up first because he felt the urge to sneeze violently. Something fuzzy was getting into his nose and tickling it. When he reached up to brush it away, his hand ended up colliding with the source of the fuzzy. A seemingly sedated Sakura. A very, very pink haired and unfathomably close, sedated Sakura.

Hidan jerked away and out of bed. Completely forgetting that he was in the nude, it wasn't until he felt the coolness of the early morning and got goosebumps from the chill. With the speed and agility of a ninja, he magically put his clothes on and was able to safely observe his sleeping partner from a distance. That is when he finally noticed how she looked like she was in a cocoon. She was wrapped in an unhealthy number of blankets.

_I was snuggling up to _that_? Jashin-Sama...what's going on?_

Hidan unconsciously rubbed a finger under his nose where Sakura's head had been only moments before. Then he paused. He realized that he had no idea how they had come to be in this situation. How he had come to be naked and wrapped around a cocooned Sakura. The last thing he remembered from the night before is that it was dark, and he and Sakura were stripping out of their wet clothes for the night.

_Wait a minute....if I was naked...then she...is she naked, too?! _

This was a first. In all his time with Sakura, Hidan had never seen nor had he thought about such perverted things about his precious person. Or at least while he was conscious.

Hidan slowly inched near the cocoon and tugged at the blankets just enough to expose her bare shoulder and collar bone. Hidan's face colored over thinking about the all the possibilities of what this could mean.

_Jashin-Sama! Sa-Sakura and I...we...we...No way! Shit! I don't remember anything!_

Hidan clutched his head in vain trying to recall what happened. In doing so, he squeezed the most tender part of his head where a massive bump protruded.

"Gah!" He winced. Surprised to find it there, he passed his hand over it again, more gently.

_When did that happen?Pfft! Jashin-Sama there's no way that I was attacked, right?_

He then glanced at Sakura and her cocoon, sans clothes, once more. He winced because as he stroked his hair back, he hit the swelling again. That's when it all came flooding back to him, or at least when he remembered his lack of memories of last night past everything going dark as he stripped out of wet clothes. That's when he figured it out.

Yeah, he was attacked, just not by an enemy.

This also meant that nothing happened between himself and Sakura.

Hidan heaved a sigh and slumped down against the wall.

He was relieved that nothing serious happened like an enemy attack.....but a small, but growing part of his mind was definitely disappointed that nothing else had happened.

Hidan fingered his pendent and looked at it for a minute.

_Jashin-Sama...why am I thinking of something like that happening? Sakura...yeah, I love her. But Why am I thinking about this in the middle of an important mission? Dammit! Jashin-Sama, I need to keep focusing on those Akatsuki bastards. They're around here somewhere._

Then his eyes slid back to Sakura's form lying on the mattress. He slowly crawled back to it and stood at her side. He watched her sleep in the dim yellow light. Her chest slowly rose and fell with each breath. Her hair was spread out in a messy halo around her head and a couple strands fell across her face and moved back and forth with her breath.

Hidan let go of his pendant and gently pushed her hair back with the tips of fingers, touching her brow and then her cheek as if handling a delicate object which might break at the slightest pressure. When his hand came to rest on the side of her exposed neck, Sakura's breathing paused.

Hidan froze.

_Oh shit! Jashin-Sama, what am I doing?! Is she waking up?! _

Hidan couldn't move his hand back out of fear of her opening her eyes and catching him doing something so absolutely uncharacteristic of him. Hidan stopped breathing himself. A few long seconds ticked by, and then Sakura shivered and turned her face towards his hand.

_Noooo!_

Hidan thought in horror. His hand was now pinned between Sakura's cheek and pillow. Not only that, but her cocoon had also slipped much lower exposing a hint of cleavage and the very beginning of where her chest began to swell out.

Hidan's face colored over and his free hand shot to the rosary on his chest. It took him a few moments of mental preparation before he was able to grit his teeth and carefully pull his trapped hand out from under Sakura. As soon as he was free, he reeled back and stared at Sakura cautiously.

_Oh thank Jashin! She's still asleep!_

Hidan then breathed a silent sigh of relief and decided it would be best if he just left the room at this point.

---------

Eventually, Sakura woke up, rather awkwardly. She looked around in the empty room bewildered. All of Hidan's stuff was gone.

**OMG did he leave me behind?!**

_No way! That can't be!_

In a panic, she jumped up and hobbled around in her cocoon, trying to gather all her clothes. It wasn't until she finally fell over as she tried to grab her underwear that she stopped panicking.

Because right next to her underwear was a note from Hidan, pinned to the wall with a kunai.

It read, "I'll be waiting for you downstairs, hurry up or you'll catch a cold. Lord Jashin's Noble Servant, Hidan"

Sakura looked from the note to her underwear and then back at the note as her face turned crimson at the sheer thought of him seeing her undies.

-------

When Sakura arrived in front of Hidan, she had an annoyed look and a major tick just above her right eye. She slid silently into the seat across from him at the small table in a secluded corner of the tavern.

She then brought her hand up with the note wadded into her fist only to smash it across the table at Hidan.

Hidan coolly raised an eyebrow at the crumbling paper, resisting eye contact for the moment as he sipped his coffee,

"I see you found the note..."

He could feel Sakura's glare, he swallowed the warm bitter liquid for courage before looking up in whatever pleading manner he could muster,

"I had to make sure that you would find it..."

Sakura's expression didn't falter. Hidan continued,

"Look, I didn't do anything! I didn't touch any of your clothes! I-I...Jashin damn it! Stop glaring at me like that, woman!" Frustrated, he ended it in a small voice and dove back into his cup of coffee.

Sakura face-palmed herself and groaned,

"But why by my...by my...why _there_ of all places?! Don't you have any decency? What about the back of the door?"

She couldn't even bring herself to say it properly. She knew that sometimes she got worked up about petty things, but that was just in her nature. Clutching her temple, she tried to clear her mind but to no avail. The incident may have been nothing, but it felt embarrassing to her none the less. She looked at Hidan still engrossed with his coffee. He seemed to be relatively calm compared to herself, and that made her feel all the more angry.

"Gimme that," Sakura grabbed his coffee, and before Hidan could protest, she took a big gulp. Grimacing, she held the liquid in her mouth for a moment.

**OMG what is this crap?**

_It's black coffee, idiot! Why didn't you check before drinking?_

**I can't drink this!!!**

_Well, you can't spit it out!_

Sakura almost teared up from the bitterness, but since she had angrily taken that gulp, she decided she might as well swallow it, it was a matter of pride.

And so, the coffee went down her gullet.

Swallowing the vile liquid caused her to think about anything and everything outside of what had just recently happened, so in the end, she had managed to clear her mind completely. All her anger from the morning wake-up note had dissipated.

Sakura finally heaved a great breath through her mouth and looked up at Hidan.

"What. Was. That? No cream, no sugar?"

"I tried to warn you." Hidan shrugged.

"How can you drink that stuff? More importantly, _why_ would you drink _that_?" As Sakura spoke, she picked up the menu looking for something that would get rid of the bitterness on her tongue.

"...actually, I can't. It's a punishment for myself...or a medicine, or whatever. Jashin knows, it clears the mind. Especially since we're close to finding...finding them."

At this, Sakura looked up from the menu.

"Oh yeah...I was thinking about that...so what are we gonna do?"

In response, Sakura heard Hidan's stomach growl.

"I...I didn't eat anything yet." Hidan explained sheepishly running a hand through his silvery hair. This annoyed Sakura.

"Wha? Why not? You know you're getting weaker and-"

This in turn ticked Hidan off and raised his hackles,

"I was waiting for you, but you took so f---ing long! Just order something, and I'm not getting weak or anything like that!"

"Okay, Okay, fine.....then... let's plan while we eat."

"Fine." Hidan seemed to be pouting as he looked off to the side, but Sakura wouldn't dare say something so dangerous out loud.

--------

"A long awaited guest has finally arrived. I wonder what he will do if there's no one to greet him?" Pein smirked contentedly as he gazed out of his chamber's window.

"I don't think he needs a welcoming party, Pein. If he's competent, then he'll find his way to you." Konan said this as she placed a tray of food down on his desk, "I thought you might want to have breakfast today."

"Oh, I wasn't planning on making it easy for him to find me at all. What did you bring?" Pein stood over the desk now, eying the lidded dishes.

"Waffles," Konan replied as she uncovered a plate, "And coffee."

"...you didn't put anything in it, did you?"

"No, it's black." She pushed the steaming mug towards the leader.

"Black. Just the way I like it."

Outside, the sky began to bubble over as black clouds descended upon the city.

-------

Hidan and Sakura scoped out the outside of the tavern one last time before going inside. What they saw only confirmed that the place was definitely more then it appeared to be. The back of the tavern building, at first looked as if it was a completely separate structure, but after a second look, they saw that it connected to the rather tall and grim building behind it. Then, the fact that this building had no doors only sealed the deal. Hidan had to get into there.

As Sakura entered the targeted tavern a good 15 minutes after Hidan, she glanced at the sky and bit her lip. It was only midmorning but the sky was already as dark as night. The black clouds were bringing with them a foreboding air that felt like it was trying to suffocate her. Biting her lip, she made sure her hood was covering as much as possible before she stepped into the world of soggy travelers once more.

Scoping out the entire tavern, she saw Hidan looking smug and lounging by the fire with his giant scythe lying next to him on the sofa, smack in the middle of the room.

She chuckled softly as she noticed the rest of the travelers slowly edging away from the scythe-wielder and making sure to give him a wide berth whenever they had to pass by.

Sakura perched herself in a secluded corner next to a rather grotesque looking clay sculpture of a bird. From there, she had the perfect panoramic view of the place. She could see the entry way, the back door, and Hidan in the fire lounge. Unless there was hidden entrance somewhere in the middle of the floor right in front of her, anyone that was entering or leaving the place would have to pass into her field of vision.

She already had one person in mind that she was thinking about seeking out, unfortunately, this person had disappeared behind the employee door.

**Where in the world did that lady go?**

_Shouldn't the tavern keeper stay behind the counter at all times?_

**But....if she isn't here, nobody will care if I snoop around, right?**

So, Sakura got up and casually walked over to the bar, standing and leaning against the countertop, she drummed her fingers to give the impression that she was waiting for the keeper to return. The two men on the other end of the bar were too engrossed in a conversation about the weather to pay attention to her. She glanced around to see if anyone from the tables or lounge area was looking her way.

Nobody.

_Okay then, the coast clear_

**Go in 3...2...1..._NOW_**

Sakura pivoted her body around the end of the bar, dropped to her knees and crawled to the other side of the counter.

_Hopefully....nobody saw that._

**If I could only use my chakra, I wouldn't have to worry about being seen.**

_Don't think about the things you can't do right now._

**But I'm not fast enoughhh..**

The employee door was behind the counter, if anyone found her crawling around behind the bar, things would get bad. Sakura had to check everything out quickly.

Deftly, and as quietly as she could, she opened and looked through each cabinet and drawer one by one. So far, there were only pots, plates, cups, cutlery, and one drawer full of money. Reaching the last drawer, she saw a bunch of unlabeled keys.

**Hmm...those look promising.**

_What if someone notices that they're gone?_

**Well, there's too many people around to suspect besides you.**

_Okay, fine, but …don't you think it's odd?_

**What is?**

_That there are so many keys but in this building, there only seem to be two doors worth locking._

**There's definitely some hidden door around here somewhere. **

Inner Sakura's logic won out and she pocketed every key. There were a few more cabinets left on the other end but once those were cleared, she crawled around the floor to see if there were any hidden entrances among the wooden floorboards. Feeling around the edges, she found nothing of value.

Sighing, she decided that there was nothing to be found behind the counter. Crawling back to the edge of the bar, she did the same thing to get out as she had done to get.

Reaching her original position besides the clay sculpture, she inhaled slowly, adjusted in her seat, and began the long wait. As people moved around the tavern, she mentally added suspicious people to her list of who to investigate. The only problem was, nobody looked particularly suspicious. This was a traveler's lodge after all. Everyone here was some sort of wayfarer or common vagrant. This early in the morning, most people were loafing around and waiting out the storm outside.

Everyone she could see at the moment was hideously boring and offered no leads to her investigation. So it's not that unwarranted that Sakura's eyes wandered back to Hidan's slouching figure lounging on the couch in front of the large hearth. She couldn't see him too clearly, but it looked like his head was turned just slightly in her bar's direction.

Sakura chewed her lip. She had already told Hidan about the tavern keeper before they came here. Hidan was planning to talk to her himself. He would approach her as an Akatsuki, meanwhile Sakura would observe the exchange as a civilian at a distance. He needed to persuade the lady to let him into the back room. Besides the entrance to the bathrooms which the pair had already checked, the employee door that lead to the back room was the only door that lead elsewhere.

Soon, the tavern keeper returned. She walked out of the employee door carrying a stack of cluttered trays.

As soon as the tavern keeper put everything away, Sakura and Hidan both moved in.

Sakura reached the bar first and silently cleared her throat so that she could use a lower, more androgynous voice. The sour tavern keeper had already met her once, Sakura couldn't take the chance that she would recognize her this time.

"Umm, excuse me, can I have a breakfast plate?"

The tavern keeper scrutinized at Sakura's hooded face for a second.

"Can you pay?"

"Yes."

"Alright, it'll be ready in a few minutes." Sakura took a seat at the bar as the tavern lady turned and deftly began putting together Sakura's order. Sakura rummaged through her pockets to produce a few coins and bills, while from the corner of her eye, she saw Hidan reach the counter a few seats down from her.

He casually placed his scythe on the counter, letting the blades come dreadfully close to the two men who were still chatting about weather on the other end of the bar.

The two men immediately stopped talking, looking wide-eyed at the scythe and then at Hidan with his pompous look, they quickly picked up their plates and drinks and left the bar. Every few seconds, they fearfully looked back until they reached the lounge area by the hearth where Hidan had just come from.

The tavern lady slid a plate of food towards Sakura and counted up her change.

"Enjoy."

"Thanks" Sakura replied as she huddled over her plate, pretending to ignore Hidan. It was only when she head a very unladylike snort come from the tavern lady that she looked up.

The tavern lady had her hands on her hips and was facing Hidan, completely unperturbed by the menacing scythe next to him, she glared at him and in a rough manner, stated,

"Hey you, what do you think you're doing with that thing? You're scaring away my patrons."

"Really? But I'm a patron, too." Hidan, who had been playing with his rosary let it drop back to his chest and smirked.

"If you're here, then you listen to my rules or I kick you out," the tavern keep smacked the counter with one hand and pointed a finger dangerously right into his face.

Hidan growled and shoved her hand out of his face and stood up to glare at her,

"Jashin dammit! Then what do you expect me to do with my weapon? Huh?", Hidan pointed a kunai at the tavern keeper's face in the same manner she had pointed at him with her finger, "I'm a ninja, my weapons stay with me."

The lady's eyes widened and she stepped back out of Hidan's face,

"N-nin?"

"Yes, Ms. Tavern Keeper, where shall I keep my weapons if not on me? If you don't want me bothering your customers, then let me into the back room there." Hidan lifted his head to indicate the door behind the woman.

The woman narrowed her eyes and glared at him, a bead of sweat formed on her brow, then she grasped her metal spoon and knocked Hidan's kunai out of her face.

"Fine, scum. Be my guest. You won't be coming out of there anytime soon."

With that, Hidan grabbed his scythe and in one swift motion, jumped over the counter and landed next to the withered woman.

"Thank you. See you later."

The woman snorted and spat at his feet as he wacked passed.

Sakura chewed her lip nervously as she watched him open the door and calmly enter the darkness without looking back.

* * *

**Maahiyum says: **

**I'm sorry I don't update a lot anymore. I keep saying I will but I don't. I also haven't been getting my chapters beta-d by anyone, my regular beta is really busy on a super secret project and I don't want to bother her. Without her, my chapter quality is crap, I'm sorry if there are lapses in the story line or character personality.**

**I read all the reviews you guys leave me :D I always get pumped to write more when you say how awesome my story is and how you want an update.**

**Unfortunately, besides college, I've recently taken on a rather important leadership position in my community. I'm busy organizing events and giving lectures and stuff, haha. Oh, I'm also a teacher at a weekend school now. I'm in charge of wee little first-graders :3**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello, Maahiyum here...yes really here. Finally.**

**I bare my half-edited chapter for all to see. **

**My writing might be rusty, but I hope it's worth reading after nearly 2 years.**

* * *

_A Morbid Acuteness of the Senses_

Chapter 10

**The Mask of Rain**

Various sojourners were lounging around with nothing to do but wait for the rain to calm down. The more bored individuals had gathered into whispering groups. The hushed topic of conversation was of course, the ghastly man who had thrown the entire tavern into a tizzy with his titanic tool of death.

After Hidan had disappeared into the unknown, Sakura had taken to sitting, huddled near the hearth. She stared morosely into the splattering flames without seeing them, instead, she was lost to consternation. There was no way of communicating with Hidan; not only were there too many ways that the information could be intercepted, but there was no reason for "Hidan of Akastuki" to contact outsiders. If this tavern was truly the entrance to the Akatsuki's hideout, Hidan would not be coming out anytime soon. This much she understood. But what could she do in this mission? What was her part? Wait in one tavern or another, fretting over Hidan's return? Hidan had told her not to do anything or try to get in, so of course she would not listen.

_There's got to be something that I can do, there's no way I'm going to wait at home like a 50's housewife!_

**Well, you can't follow him into the snake pit.**

_Besides that! _

**Well, this **_**is**_** a reconnaissance mission.**

_That's it! We'll do exactly that! Gather information!_

**But how? It's like we already got shoved into the snake pit and we're just starting to find out which ones are poisonous!**

Letting out a small huff, Sakura stuffed all her worries onto her brain's backburner and switched her position on the settee. Now was the time to think and come up with a plan of action for herself. Tapping her fingers on her knee, she recounted what she knew so far and what to be aware of.

Her and Hidan's goal together, was to find out more about the Akatsuki and what they were scheming. Hidan would be able to get the inside information about their plans, so that meant that Sakura should observe and learn about them from the outside. She would have to map out the city….well, the entire country of Rain for that matter and pinpoint the locations of Akatsuki activities, figure out which areas were safe houses for her, and most importantly, find out who, exactly was running the country. Rain looked like a dump at first, but it was definitely an urban dump. From her initial wild goose chase through the city, it was clear to see that it was pretty densely populated. The vast array of rusted buildings, slanted roofs, and hodge-podge walls of all heights and colors were made by an equally vast number of people who needed them. But the next question was this: Where were the inhabitants? And more imperative than that, what did they do in Rain?

The economics and infrastructure of Rain was not very well-known outside of it. To people from other lands, nearly everything about Rain was swathed in a mystery as intimidating and dank as its climate. Furthermore, outsiders were not very interested in such a small country. From her various shopping escapades back home or elsewhere, Sakura only remembered one thing ever being from here, and that was packaged rain water. It wasn't an item that flew off the shelves or was in high demand by your average person in any kind of setting. For the big people that cared about that sort of thing, in the world of commerce, Rain was a microscopic blip. To top it off, it was surrounded by countries that were tens to hundreds of times larger. So while the mystery was there, it wasn't that there was nobody brave enough to come solve it, the issue was more that nobody cared enough to raise the curtain of rain.

**Then that's where we'll start. With the people.**

Sakura cast her gaze around the room, this time, really trying to take in even the most minute details of the people scattered around her.

The hearth and the settee was in the center-back of the long room where she was seated, it was a very good vantage point. Starting with the closest, she eye-balled her way clockwise around the room. To her left, in the corner table, was a lone, gangly looking boy dressed in various shades of gray, fiddling with a notebook. His clothes were well worn but clean of the usual street grime. His dark pants were tucked into the knee high shafts of his black utility boots. His pale face and russet hair contrasted sharply, but handsomely in the amber glow of the fire. He looked like he was trying to find the solution to a problem in his notebook. A student with homework, maybe? Sakura itched to go and ask what he was mulling over, but she didn't want to be conspicuous so soon after Hidan's departure.

Moving on to the next bunch, was a trio clustered around a coffee table. Two men and a woman were looking at papers in between plates of bread and bowls of soup. They seemed about 10-15 years older then herself, and dressed to go out into the rain. They were having a disagreement over the papers, but Sakura could not see what was on them.

In the next corner was a tall, potted plant and a rustic couch with two young women on it. They were dressed in deep colors, but colors none-the-less (unlike the previous 4). One had on a burgundy tunic over leather stockings, the other had a dark green tunic over gray breeches, both had pants that were tucked into long boots. They were sitting comfortably facing each other and...giggling? The burgundy topped girl, a pale haired blonde, mentioned the word "Scythe" and other things Sakura couldn't make out. Her friend, a brunette, said something in reply and pursed her lips, rather animatedly. They both tried to stifle their laughs. Sakura rolled her eyes and moved on to the next person or people. It wasn't difficult to figure out what their topic of conversation was.

One by one, she went around the room. She did not expect to hear anything important, but looking at least at how the locals were acting and how they were dressed gave Sakura some ideas on where to start. Nearly everyone wore boots of one kind or another, and something with a deep hood. This wasn't as much a local fashion trend as a functional necessity. Though, she had also noticed that nobody but her had their hood up inside. Which meant that she was sticking out like a flying bird in a clear sky. The people she had seen so far were not big and muscular on average. Very few seemed to be the kind that did heavy work or outdoor labor. This only supported her thesis that agriculture wasn't a big thing in these parts.

Sakura briefly checked the money she had and stood up. Giving a mock stretch and-for added effect- scratching her behind, she silently prayed nobody would pay attention to her or find her hooded-ness strange as she shuffled out of the lodge. A few feet away from the exit, she gave one last look at the door beyond the counter. As she walked out, she let the door swing shut behind her. Adjusting her hood snug, she splashed around the main streets for a good hour until she found the place that carried all the tools she would need for the initial stage of her observational quest. The apothecary.

As soon as the door heavily fell shut behind him, his vision blacked out and the already soft, scared murmurs of the lodge's patrons ceased to be heard at all. Temporarily blinded by the darkness of the storage room, Hidan suppressed the urge to panic like any other person would if one of their most depended on senses are suddenly taken away. Then again, it was stupid of him to walk into the room without flipping on the lights. He reached an arm behind him feeling for the doorknob he had just let go. Instead of the doorknob, he felt the cold metal of a storage shelf. Following it's side, he found a wall and began a systematic search for a light switch. It wasn't until the second wall that he found it. With a dull thud and crunch, the power switched on and a handful of light bulbs, lazily hanging from the ceiling, trembled slowly into a grey incandescence.

Before he got a chance to clearly look around the room, something hot began to prickle at the back of Hidan's neck. The pricks came hotter and faster and he jumped forward, covering his neck with a hand and uttering a string of curses. Looking back, Hidan saw a swaying wire spitting sparks like a baby dragon. He took another step back, still rubbing the back of his neck, he saw on the floor a small pile of shattered glass and in its center, a hand's breadth of wire still attached to the bulb's base.

"Oh, for Jashin's sake! You've gotta be kidding me...", Hidan muttered, realizing that the scythe on his back must have slashed the low-hanging lights while he was bumbling around blindly in the dark. He took the scythe off his back and held it carefully, awkwardly, in his hands, taking care not to bump any of the various shelves lining the walls or any additional lights hanging around his head. The room was quite spacious for a storage closet. Its length seemed to spread longer then the bar and kitchen on the other side of the wall. There were more lights, some lit, some not, hanging low from the ceiling as he looked on until the far end, where a small desk, chair, and spare mattress were located.

Hidan sighed in annoyance as he judiciously walked towards the furniture. He had to navigate his head around the lights and his scythe, which was now more horizontal then vertical, around the extra shelves jutting from the walls. Either this was a clever ploy to slow down any would-be intruders, or most of the Akatsuki that passed through here were short, he thought. Hidan considered himself to be on the taller end of the bunch, perhaps since his departure, there were no longer any tall members left? Oh well, at least he didn't have to crouch or bend over.

Reaching the desk and chair, he sat down heavily. Leaning his scythe against the desk, he glanced at the few things on it. A cup of pens, sheets of inventory catalog and old receipts, a handful of coins. He flipped through the catalog for anything possibly weapons or shinobi gear related. Nothing there. Frowning he put the papers down and stared at the shelves he had nearly flipped over. The shelves nearest the door had large pickling jars, sacks of flour, a crate of eggs, and other food related things. The shelves nearest to him held stacks of linens and bedding material. There was a box of first aid. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary for a travelers' lodge.

Hidan flared his nostrils and slowly breathed out. This could not be a dead end. He was absolutely positive that in this lodge was a clue, a way, to reach Akatsuki. Maybe under the desk? He ran his hands around the edge of the desk, then under it. Maybe something was attached or it had a secret mechanism. Once more, there was nothing to find. The underside of the desk was as smooth as slate. As an afterthought, he gave it a small zap of chakra as he stood up and turned to look at the mattress.

It was not a bed, it was simply a dingy, uncovered mattress lying haphazardly accross the floor. It was just wide enough for one person to be comfortable. But only if that person liked to sleep without a pillow, a blanket, or any sheets. Hidan nudged it cautiously with a foot, waited a minute, and when nothing happened, he kicked it aside. It slid forlornly to a stop before hitting the wall.

_Finally! Some progress! I knew I'd find something in here, Jashin-sama!_

Where the mattress once lay, there was the beveled outline of a rectangle inlaid into the floor with a small inverted lip on the side nearest him. Triumphantly, Hidan stuck his hand down and lifted the door up to reveal a set of stairs leading into darkness. Taking a step back, Hidan ran his fingers over his rosary. He wasn't going to get caught in the dark a second time! If Sakura ever found out about the light bulb incident, he wouldn't hear the end of the jokes. He needed something to light his way. A torch, a candle, anything would do. Maybe one of the boxes in the room had something. He went back to the last shelf. Scanning it with his eyes, he paused at the box of first aid materials.

_That looks promising._

Bringing it down, he removed the lid to find rolls and rolls of bandages. Scattered between them were jars of salve and healing balms. A spool of thread and a surgical needle. A small bottle of antiseptic. A pair of scissors. Candles, matches...and there! Long tubes that looked like emergency flares. He looked to see if there may be any glow sticks as well, but there weren't.

Hidan frowned down into the descending stairwell. He had lit a rag on fire and tossed it down. It had revealed that the stairs ended after 5 or 6 steps and then it became a smooth passage.

There were 5 flares in total and they only lasted a few minutes long. If each one lasted at least 4 minutes, then Hidan had a total of 20 minutes to traverse the unlit areas. He had no idea how long the passage would be or if it would all be pitch black. Not to mention that with one hand holding up a flare, he would only have one hand free for defense if anything happened. It was impossible to tell what was down there or where it would lead. The only thing he knew for sure was that it had to lead to Pein.

Hidan secured the extra flares to his belt, held a lit one in his hand, and jumped down. He landed on the glowing cinders of the rag and kicked it forward. Holding the flare in front of him, he could see that a few yards ahead, the passage got wider then ended abruptly. He began walking to what he thought was the end. The flat stone hewn wall got closer and closer, until he was standing right before it.

_This isn't right. It doesn't end here, I just know it__!_

He brought the light closer to see if there were any marking or indentations. He touched it with the flat of his hand. It seemed solid. Hidan frowned and gave it a swift kick.

_OW! Shit! Jashin, damn it! That was stupid!_

Hidan hopped on one foot as he nursed his toes for a few seconds. When he put his foot back down, it was still smarting. He pushed at the wall with both hands this time, and when nothing happened, he sent in a pulse of chakra and immediately, it not only moved, it disappeared to reveal the rest of the passage. By this time, his first flare was nearly finished, but he went in without lighting a new one. The faint glow was enough to see by for now. He wanted to make the flares last as long as possible. A few yards more into the passage, his flare gave out, but luckily, Hidan wasn't left completely in the dark. There seemed to be enough light coming from something up ahead that he could make the walls and the shapes of his hands and feet.

Hidan, with his scythe positioned to go in any direction, slinked down the dim corridor. It was a straight, narrow path that seemed to slope down, further and further below ground level. Every few yards, there were strange neon lights fixed to the walls. They gave off a strange blue hued light that put an eerie effect to the place. Hidan scoffed, _Typical, that bastard Leader's always gone for the over dramatic style._

The air was beginning to feel cooler and heavier with moisture when Hidan finally reached a stairwell. He peeked into it for signs of any hidden traps and saw that the dark tunnel tightly wound upwards and more of those weird blue lights lit the steps. Hidan grimaced and mounted his scythe on his back before taking the first step up. He had to duck slightly because that first step brought him high really fast and he would have hit the ceiling of the corridor if he hadn't. He took the second step and nearly fell backwards as he got pushed back by his own weight.

"Fuck!" he yelled and tried to keep his balance. When he managed to teeter on the edge of the step, he noticed that his scythe had gotten lodged behind him against the low ceiling and tight walls of the stairwell.

"Oh, for Jashin's Sake! Why isn't this getting any easier? This isn't exactly the great come-back I am meant to make." Hidan stepped back out of the stairwell and unstrapped the scythe. _This place __**really**__ wasn't meant for tall people, it looks like._ Hidan tried a handful of methods to go through the stairwell without getting stuck with his scythe. Ultimately, every useful, normal way of taking the scythe with him failed. Either it got stuck, or he got stuck, or he painfully _got stuck_ by it. But one thing was for sure, he sure as hell wasn't leaving his best weapon behind in some Jashin-forsaken Cimmerian labyrinth under a freakin' travelers' lodge or whatever the hell he was below at the moment.

Hidan's forehead wrinkled as he tried to surmise one last way to get through the treacherously tiny stairwell. After what seemed like an eternity, he thought of a solution. A ridiculous solution. One he felt he should apologize to his beloved scythe for afterward. Hidan pick up his scythe and held it in front of him horizontally, with the blades facing up. He adjusted his grip so that it would be closer to the end of the shaft, and lifted the blades' end up enough to create forty-five degree angle. Then he stepped into the base of the stairwell with his scythe positioned the same way, which is exactly how a sword or a lance should be held but not a scythe. He was the horse, his scythe was the lance, and the stairwell was the tournament ground. And then he ran up the stairs with a battle cry,

"Jashin-Samaaaaa!"

So began Hidan's joust.

Sakura stepped out of the shower in her room at the small inn that she and Hidan had stayed at the night before. Her hair was now a rubicund brown. The dye she had used was supposed to make it black, but her hair was too light for it to work all the way. The apothecary from whom she bought it from had told her so. Still, it was enough for her to not be recognized by her signature blush colored hair. Her face was framed by dark, still-damp, locks. It was incredibly odd for her since she never imagined herself with dark hair. She smeared the dye carefully on her eyebrows, waited a few minutes a washed it out. When she opened her eyes this time, she stopped breathing for a second. This time, as she looked in the mirror, she truly felt what people call an out-of-body experience. The mirror was no longer a reflector, but a window through which someone she had never met before was staring back at her. Her eyes seem to glow more vibrantly green, her features looked sharper, her skin paler.

Sakura slowly smiled and so did the stranger.

**Perfect! This is perfect!**

_This is such a good disguise! Nobody will know this is Sakura Haruno from Konoha!_

**Bet even Hidan wouldn't recognize you in a crowd.**

_He….might. He's been with you so long, how could he not?_

**Would it hurt to test this new disguise out?**

_We can't test it without him to begin with. And we don't know when we can see each other again._

**If I see him anywhere, I'm gonna sneak up on him. See what he does.**

_Yeah, ok, later. Let's stop admiring our new hair and put on the rest of our disguise._

**We both know this isn't so much a disguise as it was a shopping spree for you.**

_So what? Same purpose._

Sakura went over to the bed where she had spread out all the new clothes. By all, she meant the 2 shirts, 2 pants, and 3 pairs of socks. They were all dark shades and meant to be inconspicuous. But her most prized possessions were the rain coat and knee-high boots. They were the most expensive of all her items. She put on one set of clothes and packed the remainder away into a small bundle. She stashed her usual weapons away under her coat. Then she looked sadly into her wallet.

She had only a quarter of the money both her and Hidan had initially started with. She would be able to stay at the inn for only 2, maybe 3 more nights before she ran out of money. Which meant that she would have to get a job somehow, too. Which, actually would be a good way to find out more information anyway, but on the downside, if a prospective employer asked too many questions, she may not be able to keep her story straight.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Sakura zipped up her coat and smoothed it into place. Checked her hair out one more time in the bathroom, and exited her room, letting the locks slide into place behind her.

**Now, where to go first?**

* * *

**Author's Comments: **Yes, it's not very long. But i did my best. I'll try to continue when I can**.**

So Sakura is looking to get hired to make some quick cash, and if anybody asks her, she must give her name.** So what's her new undercover name?**

**I was thinking Haruna Sakuro, but if you readers have other suggestions, leave them in a review :)**

**I'm looking for something stupidly funny, but usable as a real name because I like lame humor and puns ;)**


	11. Chapter 11

A Morbid Acuteness of the Senses

_Chapter 11_

_**Urban Cimmeria**_

Hidan rushed out of the stairwell only to trip over his own feet. He had overstepped when he stepped out since his legs had gotten used to the steepness of the stairs, fortunately, he didn't land on his face and was able to use his withdrawn scythe to hold himself up from kissing the ground.  
Taking a breath of relief, he straightened up and looked around to where he was now. It was a long cavern with high ceilings made up of great stone arches and what looked to be large lanterns hanging down from each of the groins. But instead of warm, golden flames, they had the same odd blue glow. On either side behind him, there were two more stairwells, just as small and tight fitting as the one he had emerged from. He cursed Pein once again for being such a dick and not telling him about any of this. As he gazed down the cavern, he noticed that he wasn't the only being in the room.  
Quick as a blink, he had jumped to where the wall between two stairwells was at his back and his scythe defensively put up in front of him. Huge, grotesque creatures lined the walls along the left and right of the cavern. Some had dark sunken pits for eyes, some had fiery orbs to see from. Some had maws hanging open with gruesome, wicked teeth shining red, others had their great jowls stretched so wide that they went behind their heads. Each of them had multiple, misshapen limbs, and each of their bodies was different from the rest. But all of them had faces that looked at him silently.  
_ Holyyy Fuuuu-Lord Jashin, am I in Hell? Are these your true servants? Or are these the beasts of Pein, that Bastard Leader?_  
All of this, Hidan had observed in the span of the few heartbeats in which he stood absolutely still and his body refused to breath. The army of silent monsters was overwhelming and the impending confrontation would shock any sane shinobi. When his diaphragm finally flexed and his lungs forcefully expanded, his body shuddered with the intake of air. Hidan's sense of the passage of time was no longer relevant to anything but how many times he was able to inhale and exhale. He touched the fingertips of his right hand to his rosary. The familiar grain of the wooden beads strengthened his hands enough that he was able to grasp the medallion of Jashin's Servants and firmly grip his scythe. His lips barely moved at all as he whispered a prayer to his lord. There were too many things for him to take all at once.  
No longer as shocked as before, Hidan glanced at the forms closest to him, and for his sanity and willpower's sake, chose to focus completely on the one to his right. It looked like a 3 eyed, 4 armed jackal, and it was hunched over like a gorilla. Its eyes were black holes but somehow, it managed to stare at Hidan with a permanent snarl on its lips, two canines glinting like stalactites.  
Hidan, pathetically stared back at it and adjusted his position. The bottomless eyes didn't move. Not even a hair ruffled on the thing's back. Hidan shot a kunai at the creature's center eye and in the same movement, nicked his own forearm to draw blood for his first sacrificial ceremony in two years. But before he touched a blood covered thumb to the ground around his feet, he looked up just in time to see his kunai simply disappear into the eye. Hidan managed to draw half his circle before he realized that it was oddly quiet for a battle. The creature hadn't even moved an inch nor flinched. It hadn't drawn breath or let out sound. Hidan looked back up at the monster. It hadn't even moved.  
After a moment, Hidan threw a second kunai, aiming at what would be the vitals on any other living thing. The metal whistled through the air, and hit the jackal's chest, square in the middle. For a beat, the kunai looked like it entered flesh as it stay stuck in place, but to Hidan's dismay, it only fell to the ground with a dying clink a second later. Even so, the creature had not stirred.  
Confused but undeterred from the fight, Hidan stepped out of his unfinished circle and cautiously approached the canine form. Every few steps, he would pause to check for movement, both in front of him and behind him. This could very well be an elaborate hoax by the army of hellions. To sneak up and attack him while he was distracted by one. To move when he wasn't looking and tear his limbs out, end his servitude for good.  
Hidan swallowed. He was now just a couple feet away from the jackal, within scythe range. It hadn't moved to attack him and nothing had moved behind him. He heaved his scythe, twisting to one side as he pulled it all the way back, then whipped forward for a swing that would cleave the creature's leg or arm of whatever it was, from under him.  
Hidan was met with a jarring impact that held him in place. Metal met stone. His beloved scythe was buried an inch into a stony thigh and still quivering too fast to see. The longer he held on, the more painful the vibrations got. Hidan tried to pull it out, but every ounce of energy he poured into it seemed to be sucked out, devoured or maybe just negated, by the vibrating metal.  
"Oh Lord Jashin, help me defeat this hellion, scourge it from this world!" Hidan screamed as he pulled on the handle of his scythe. His arm had begun to lose feeling as the vibrations not only refused to cease, but seemed to grow more frequent. Hidan knew he should just leave the weapon and run, but he refused. His beloved scythe had traveled with him this far, he would not leave it now in the midst of a would-be battle.  
By now, he had realized the creature was simply a stone statue, yet it was something more than a mere statue. It seemed to suck in energy from whatever attacked it. Hidan had a feeling that if he did not get out of there soon, something bad would begin.  
"JASHINNN! DAMNNNN! YOUUUUU! FUUUUU-" Hidan screamed as he finally used his legs to push against the stone and gain leverage. He couldn't feel his arms anymore and there was a painful stinging sensation replacing the numbness. The scythe's blades were humming and sweat was pouring down his face. With a final heave, the blades lodged in the stone leg began to slide out slowly, with a screaming metallic sound Hidan had never heard from his faithful weapon. The slow, shrill grating of nails on a chalkboard, like the blades of his scythe were in pain.  
Hidan fell back abruptly as the scythe fell free.

o0o0o0o

The sky was, as always, filled with clouds, but this time, they were becoming darker and denser, roiling with unkempt winds. In the distance, Sakura could see the difference in the sheets of rain from where the storm was giving birth. Instead of lazily dripping straight down, each drop was being buffeted into whatever direction the wind pointed it to. It looked like an unwelcoming frenzy.

The storm reminded her of her equally frenzied partner. Hidan, that crazy bastard. She wondered how far he'd gotten, if he had made it to Akatsuki's lair. If he was still in one piece. For a second, just for a second, Sakura was playing with the idea of going back to where she last saw him but knew that to be insensible. But what _was_ sensible was to wait the oncoming storm out, and so, she began to have second thoughts as she stood on the last step down from her hostel's door.

_No way, Sakura! You have to go out! You need to find a job! It's for this mission!_

** A job for a job? Oh, Come on! Shouldn't they have given you more money for this mission if it was soo important?**

_ It's just reconnaissance. They expect me to take care of myself, and that's exactly what I'm doing._

** Yeah, sure you are. What with the new wardrobe and all, you can't afford a roof over your head anymore!**

_Ugh…I know. I know. That's why I have to go. Remember Sakura, it's for the mission! Stick to your plan! Hidan is doing the same!_

Pulling her hood down closer around her head, Sakura stepped out from under the lintel and headed towards the nearest main street. The hostel she was staying in was a slim building of about seven or eight stories, off a nondescript alley approximately a dozen blocks away from the city's skyward reaching center. Compared to the buildings around it, the inn was a fairly short structure.

As the crowding towers on either side gave way to the more open space of the wider cardinal avenue, Sakura paused and looked to the colorful architecture of storefronts, social hubs, and restaurants from which people of all sorts were shuffling in and out, rushing to go about their business and beat the oncoming storm. Bikes whizzed past, odd 3 wheeled carts zipped around with passengers, and once in a while, giant carts carrying construction materials were lugged past by teams of water buffalo. This was definitely a main street. Counting as far as she could see on either side, there were only a small handful of shops where she might be able to get a job that served her purpose. Adding the shops to her mental checklist, she crossed the street carefully, dodging around the faster vehicles and avoiding other pedestrians. Starting from the end of the block, she decided to systematically go through each place on her list.

The first place she entered was a cheery green colored, fresh food market. It was small, with only three short aisles. She walked around the entire store in under a minute, saw the only clerk in the store was busy reading a newspaper, and walked right out. A tiny grocery store was not the type of place she was looking for. She needed a place that was lively and busy all the time, where all manner of people came. The more people, the better to answer her questions about Rain. Or at least a place that paid well enough for her to frequent the former type of place.

_That was just an unlucky start, the next place will be better._

The second place she tried was a specialty umbrella shop. Similar to the first, it was small, with one or two patrons in at a time. She was beginning to think that she was simply deceived by the number of people on the street in front of the shops because these places were not busy at all. At least not at the level she was hoping for. Sighing, she left that shop, too, and moved on to the next. One by one she made it down several blocks, going in and out of shops, boutiques, and even a small health clinic. It was when she got closer to downtown that she saw real restaurants and cafes.

Her patience wearing thin, she gritted her teeth and stopped to observe carefully instead of wasting any more energy trying deadbeat shops. Seeing a corner venue whose doors were constantly swinging back and forth, Sakura rushed to the end of the block, despite having to splash through puddles the size of ponds which she had carefully avoided thus far. Lightening in the sky above lit everything up in harsh relief.

A bell attached to the door chimed as Sakura walked in accompanied by a roar of thunder. The storm she had dreaded had finally come to meet her.

o0o0o0o0o

With a string of curses, Hidan scrambled to get himself together and stand back. He looked at his scythe, whose blades were glowing at the tips. Growling, he slung it to his back; his favorite weapon was useless until it cooled down. That's when he heard a groaning, grinding sound coming from the creature ahead of him.

"Oh, Fuck," Hidan exclaimed under his breath as he slowly backed away further, watching wide-eyed and not knowing what to expect. Obviously he had never encountered anything like it before in his long career as a jashinist, but as the creature slowly, slowly rose to its full height, Hidan noticed an odd slip of paper on its navel. It was hard not to miss since it was white and glowed faintly, contrasting sharply against the dark, stone abdomen.

"Ahah! Ahahahahaha! Shit! Fuck! That's what you are?" Hidan guffawed, doubling over in a weird, giddy relief. He ran a hand through his hair to smooth it back and started casually walking away as the creature moved to follow.

"A fuckin' Golem. That's what that bastard Pein filled this room with, huh?" Hidan talked to the moving stone as he began the long walk to the other side of the room, knowing full well that the creature didn't have the ability to understand or reply. The jackal-like golem silently dragged itself behind Hidan and kept pace, every now and then reaching out to grab him with a monstrous third or fourth hand intent on crushing which Hidan promptly skipped away from.

"Of course it'd be his style to make all of you as creepy as fuck.", his remark echoed through the cavern. He hoped Pein heard it. And was deeply offended by it. Wherever the bastard was hiding. Hidan had seen golems before, and had also dealt with them before back in his early Jashinist days. They were essentially giant clay dolls that were brought to life with a ritual and a name. Normally, they were made in a more humanoid form, two arms, two legs, a head and a pair of eyes…but of course Pein fucked that up from the beginning. They were created to carry out any, single command; summed up in one word, this command was written with chakra as the golem's name and that paper attached to a center point on the form.

Golem were practically indestructible, for that reason they were mainly used as guardians. Once they were active, they became relentless juggernauts and would do anything to do their one task. However, all one had to do was rip off or destroy the name and the golem would be incapacitated. Fortunately for Hidan, the bigger they got, the slower they got, and he sped up to leave the golem jackal far abaft. He virtually strolled to the small orifice that was the exit. All but whistling a jaunty tune, Hidan was just about to pass the threshold when the ground behind him shook. Hidan knew he shouldn't turn around to look, that he should just hit the accelerator on his chakra and run, but he didn't. A morbid curiosity to watch his own doom forced him to see.

All the golem were on the move, groaning and grinding their stony limbs they rushed at him with eyes glowing orange. Their noisy advance echoed throughout the mausoleum-like chamber, raising dust into the air and causing stones to rain down from the ceiling. As if an underground Cimmeria had been awakened. The jackal that was tailing him was now moving quicker, much quicker then Hidan had anticipated. Within a few seconds the jackal would be upon him, crushing him to smithereens.

"Damn", was all Hidan could say before dodging a literal iron fist, then another and another, yelling indiscriminately between movement, "Fuck!-Why- the hell- did he- give you four arms?"

Looking about, the stampede of golem was closing in on him as they picked up speed. The jackal moved to block the exit out of the little hellhole. Now behind him were the hellions and in front of him was the jackal, still swinging its limbs around to crush the intruder. Hidan swore and muttered a plea for help to Jashin in the same breath, having no idea how to get out in one piece or at least mostly in one piece. Hidan was stuck between rock and a hard place (pun intended).

His beloved scythe was useless against the rock army, kunai were, too. Even his ritual would not work on something that did not truly live, something whose essence was nothing more tangible than just a trace of chakra. These were all facts that Hidan greatly lamented upon realization. The only thing he could depend upon now was his own speed, but he knew that eventually he would get worn out from constantly dodging a crushing death. The other, impossible option was to destroy each of golems' names. But that was a hopeless task, he would probably not even make it through a third of the monsters before being simply squashed to death by their unforgiving bulk.

_Fuck! Jashin, help me! Think, Hidan! Think! You can't end here!_

Hidan began to sweat more profusely then before, ignoring the overwhelming army rounding from behind, he kept his roseate eyes on the one golem blocking his exit.

_Come on, Hidan! I know you're a dumbass but being around Sakura this long must have rubbed something off on you! _

Even if Hidan made it past the jackal, it and the others would surely give chase into the tunnel. If only he could keep them from following, somehow. Then he'd be safe, at least for the moment. There was no thinking in what that bastard Pein had rigged up next.

Hidan decided to _fuck_ coming up with a plan, he just wanted to get through the opening to the other side. He stepped back from the jackal and away from the crevice, shooting some kunai, he hoped to lure it after him and apart from the opening. From the corner of his vision he could see orange glows looming above him. Like a cat after catnip, it stepped away and Hidan darted for the space behind the golem. He made it inside just as a craggy arm whipped forward and hit the side of the entrance, chipping off a sizeable chunk of bedrock.

The jackal and its four arms reached for him again and Hidan danced in the rift to avoid them. He was getting tired and his breathing was more labored. He needed to stop this golem at least, and soon. Hidan ran up the side of the tunnel so that he was directly above the jackal, it looked up at him with three eerie orange orbs and shot its hands into the top of the tunnel right when Hidan launched himself towards the paper on its navel. Catching hold of a corner, he used his momentum to bounce away deeper into the tunnel, landing with a barrel roll.

There was a loud crash of stone against stone as the golem's arms smashed into the tunnel walls, bringing everything down around it with the shockwave. Hidan had ripped off the name right when the impact happened, now the jackal golem was no different than the pile of rocks it was buried in. And better yet, the mess of boulders completely blocked off the opening, preventing the remaining golem from marching in….at least at the moment.

Heaving a sigh of relief, Hidan slumped against the wall and took in everything in front of him. Sending a word of thanks to Jashin, he relished in the knowledge that Sakura was nowhere near him. Using the edge of his cloak he wiped away the mixture of dirt, sweat, and desperation off his face. After a few short minutes of rest, he checked over the rest of his body. There were some minor cuts and scrapes from falling debris and rough landings. He used a kunai to pick a few pebbles out of the arm he had used to steady his last landing. As blood started to seep out from the shallow wound, he ran his tongue over it and stood up with a thoughtful grimace. He couldn't feel anything, not the stinging over the cuts, not the soreness where bruises were forming. He was still on an adrenaline rush for some reason, though it should have faded minutes ago. Things were going wrong with his body sooner than he had anticipated, while a longer adrenaline rush was not a serious issue, it meant that bigger problems may be following up and could mean the difference between life or death (as dead as Hidan could get) in a battle. He knew that his body would ache even more than before, he'd have to find a sacrifice soon.

Frowning, Hidan adjusted his scythe and trudged forward, thankfully this walk would be short and sweet, he could already see stairs leading to a door . The tunnel was dimly lit by glowing veins of phosphorous in the walls. This time, the stairs were not narrow, nor did they require any epic scythe wielding skills. Hidan quickly made it to a simple wooden door. He was about to grab hold of the handle when he saw a sliver of light peeking from underneath, and it was normal light from a normal lamp.

Thinking better then to simply walk into whatever was on the other side, he stepped back, fixed a smug smirk on his face and delivered a swift kick to the center of the door. It flew off its hinges with a bang. Hidan forced himself not to squint from the light and swaggered into the room.

* * *

**A/N: **Hooooooboiiiiii how wuzzit? Tell me in the review :) I was finna have this thing beta'd but it was taking too long and I was being impatient haha. I really wanted to get this chapter out within 2 days of finishing it.

I think my writing style has changed a lot in 2 years. I mean I'm old enough to drink now, when i began this story, i wasn't even old enough to vote. Maybe I'm more sarcastic now.

I intended on writing more about Sakura, but I got caught up writing Hidan's more 'action-packed' adventure. I got some good ideas for Sakura's fake name from the last chapter reviews, so thanks you guys!

Also, the word **Cimmeria**...I don't know if most people know what it means, but from what i've read, this is what I've gathered: It's a harsh and barren land of darkness (like the ice world from Thor- the Movie) where foul creatures thrive through any means necessary. These creatures, teh Cimmerian, were once normal people and the land was a normal people place, but then the people did something super wrong and their beautiful land became curse-d, then over the generations of having to survive in the wretched place, the people of Cimmeria evolve with their surroundings and became hideous beasts (like orcs or something) with murderous skill and cunning. They would have gone out and taken over the world, but Cimmeria was barricaded by impassable mountains. So they were stuck there being mean and angry and ugly forever. IDK, my def is probably exaggerated and i don't remember where I read of it. It was a while ago so this may as well be total BS and the wiki entry on Cimmeria being the origins of Conan the Barbarian would be correct. But then again, wikipedia is half BS anyway.

Please review :)


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